Tiny Satellite Stepped onto Big Stage as Florence Churned

Article courtesy of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL)

A new weather satellite no bigger than a cereal box got an inside look at Hurricane Florence, in the first test of technology that could be the future of storm monitoring. The satellite observed Hurricane Florence on Tuesday, September 11, just hours after its instrument was turned on. Named for the storms it tracks, TEMPEST-D (Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration) is a mission to demonstrate a new miniature weather instrument that could make it possible to use fleets of small satellites to provide more frequent updates on developing storms.

TEMPEST-D, a CubeSat deployed into low-Earth orbit from the International Space Station in July, carries a state-of-the-art miniaturized microwave radiometer, an instrument that sees through the thick clouds to reveal the hidden interior of storms, just like a security scanner can see inside luggage at the airport. The second, brightly colored image taken by TEMPEST-D shows Florence over the Atlantic Ocean, revealing the eye of the storm surrounded by towering intense rain bands.  The green areas highlight the extent of the rain being produced by the storm, with the most intense rain denoted by the yellow and red colors.  The first image of the hurricane was taken by the GOES weather satellite that shows the familiar cyclone-shaped clouds of the storm, but doesn’t reveal what’s inside.

This level of detail is similar to what existing weather satellites produce, but at a fraction of the size and cost.  In the future, many TEMPEST satellites could be built for the same cost as a single, large satellite. A flock of TEMPEST satellites flying together could provide updates on storms within minutes as opposed to hours.

“TEMPEST-D paves the way for future missions where we can afford to fly many of these miniaturized weather satellites in constellations. Such a deployment will enable us to watch storms as they grow,” said Professor Steven Reising, TEMPEST-D Principal Investigator at Colorado State University.

TEMPEST-D’s mission is to test new technology that will be used to gather more weather data to help researchers better understand storms.  “We were challenged to fit this instrument in such a small satellite without compromising data quality and were delighted to see it work right out of the box,” said Dr. Sharmila Padmanabhan who led the instrument development at JPL.

TEMPEST-D is a technology demonstration mission led by Colorado State University (CSU) and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, in partnership with Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) and NASA’s Near Earth Network ground station operated by Wallops Flight Facility. The mission is sponsored by the NASA’s Earth Ventures program and managed by the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). The radiometer instrument was built by JPL and employs high-frequency microwave amplifier technology developed by Northrop Grumman Corp.

More information about TEMPEST-D is available at the following site:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/tempest-d.php

Blue Canyon Technologies Completes On-Orbit Commissioning of Three 6U CubeSats from New Manufacturing and Operations Center

BOULDER, Colorado – Sept 12, 2018 –Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has successfully completed the bus commissioning activities of three BCT-built spacecraft that were recently dispensed from the International Space Station (ISS). The payloads on all three 6U CubeSats, TEMPEST-D, CubeRRT, and HaloSat, have started operations with engineers monitoring from BCT’s Mission Operations Center (MOC) in Boulder, Colorado.

The satellites include:

  • HaloSat, a 6U CubeSat developed at the University of Iowa in partnership with NASA. Its mission is to detect X-ray gas emissions around the Milky Way galaxy.
  • TEMPEST-D, a 6U CubeSat developed at Colorado State University in partnership with NASA, is a demonstration mission for a planned constellation of Earth observation CubeSats that will provide the first temporal observations of cloud and precipitation processes on a global scale in order to improve understanding of cloud processes vital to weather prediction.
  • CubeRRT, a 6U CubeSat developed at Ohio State University with NASA funding.  Its mission is to test a new signal processor to mitigate radio interference impacting microwave radiometer measurements of soil moisture, atmospheric water vapor, sea surface temperature and winds from orbit.

BCT is now supporting numerous successful missions with a cumulative total of 4 spacecraft, 11 attitude control systems, 25 star trackers and 69 reaction wheels on-orbit. In conjunction with this recent on-orbit success, BCT has expanded their satellite manufacturing facilities in Boulder, Colorado to over 42,000 square feet. The new facility was designed to accommodate the increasing demand for their high-performance, high-reliability spacecraft, subsystems, and components.  BCT’s new state-of-the-art facility supports high-volume spacecraft production, including constellations, by leveraging new cleanrooms, thermal vacuums, vibration, integration, and test capabilities.  BCT has orders for nearly 60 spacecraft, ranging from 3U CubeSats to 200kg ESPA-class, for missions in LEO to GEO, for commercial, academic, and Government customers.  BCT has also recently obtained building permits for an additional 40,000 square feet, which will make their facility one of the largest for small satellite production in the world.

The three new satellites being controlled from the BCT MOC join the RAVAN satellite, which BCT has been operating for nearly two years.  BCT has plans to operate more than 10 other spacecraft by the end of 2019.  The MOC software was designed to work seamlessly with all BCT spacecraft, which share a common command and telemetry architecture.  In addition to the UHF antenna at the BCT facility, the MOC can also interface with multiple third-party ground station antennas and commercial ground station networks around the world.  The high level of autonomy of the BCT spacecraft, and the powerful ground software require minimal operator involvement, resulting in near lights-out operations.  The MOC software can also be easily installed at a spacecraft owner’s facility and operated by them, as is currently planned for multiple missions.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc. is a privately held business founded in 2008 to bring high-performance, affordable solutions to space missions. The company is an innovative, experienced integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced aerospace products and technologies. For the latest news on Blue Canyon Technologies and for other company information, please visit www.bluecanyontech.com.

Blue Canyon Technologies helps ASTERIA Satellite Point the Way to Discovering New Planets

BOULDER, Colorado – July 9, 2018 – The ASTERIA spacecraft, or the Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics satellite, has claimed the title of being the most accurately pointed small satellite on orbit.

The 6U CubeSat, which was deployed into low-earth orbit (LEO) in November 2017, has already demonstrated the ability of miniaturized technology to operate properly on orbit and has become the first CubeSat to achieve sub-arcsecond pointing accuracy. ASTERIA is also one of the first 6U spacecraft to be deployed from the International Space Station.

Built and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, ASTERIA’s primary mission was to demonstrate that its small payload could look for exoplanets that transit their parent star, via precision star observation.

Blue Canyon Technologies’ highly integrated XACT enables this groundbreaking pointing accuracy, with a native stability of 1.6 arcseconds. This is equivalent to the width of a “STOP” sign as viewed from over 60 miles away. The piezo-equipped payload augments this native precision pointing to achieve sub-arcsecond pointing. Data from the payload shows that the pointing stability of 1.6 arcseconds can be achieved by XACT alone.

BCT’s XACT Attitude Control System employs high-performance components that can be used for a wide range of missions.  The XACT has now flown on six missions, enabling the highest-precision CubeSat attitude control from LEO all the way to deep space. The ASTERIA XACT was a Generation 2 predecessor to BCT’s current Generation 4 XACT that has even better performance, additional capabilities, and higher radiation tolerance.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc. is a privately held business founded in 2008 to bring high-performance, affordable solutions to space missions. The company is an innovative, experienced integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced aerospace products and technologies. For the latest news on Blue Canyon Technologies and for other company information, please visit www.bluecanyontech.com.

​Ohio State’s first satellite prepares for launch

The shoebox-sized CubeRRT will test new technology to help scientists

By: Ryan Horns

Published by Ohio State News on May 16, 2018

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Its name may playfully give homage to a 1980s video arcade game, but the technology on board The Ohio State University’s first satellite — the CubeRRT — could be vital for Earth science missions into the future. It is scheduled for launch on May 20.

Project leader Joel Johnson, professor and chair of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) at Ohio State, said the CubeSat Radiometer Radio Frequency Interference Technology Validation mission (CubeRRT) contains advanced sensors for observing Earth’s environment from space.

The Ohio State team named the CubeRRT satellite after “Q*bert,” one of the most popular video arcade games of the 1980s.

The technology on board is designed to solve a major problem for researchers by breaking through noisy radio transmissions that can interfere with efforts to detect from space what’s happening on Earth.

Johnson explained that Earth emits natural microwave frequencies, which scientists study with sensors called radiometers. The data from these sensors helps determine soil moisture, sea temperature, sea ice coverage, weather and much more.

Meanwhile, humans are busy making a racket on Earth.

As the need for wireless services worldwide continues to increase, Johnson said, the growth of manmade radio transmissions is making it increasingly difficult to detect Earth’s natural microwave radiation. This influx is called radio frequency interference, or RFI.

“The problem is only getting worse over time,” Johnson said. “The spectrum is getting more and more crowded, due to the continued rapid growth in demand for wireless services.”

The team has high hopes for this new radiometer technology. There are multiple radiometers without RFI filtering capabilities observing Earth right now, Johnson said, measuring weather and gathering data for oceanographers and atmospheric science.

“(Those radiometers) suffer very much from RFI and in many cases they can’t correct for it very well. They can get swamped by the manmade transmissions,” he said. “CubeRRT is a microwave radiometer that has a greatly improved processor to get rid of the RFI. The goal is to demonstrate this processor so future satellites can use it. The success of CubeRRT in space will demonstrate a new processing technology that will be very valuable.”

Soon, Johnson said, every Earth observing radiometer may require special processors to separate the RFI signals from the environmental data scientists need. His team specializes in such processors.

CubeRRT is scheduled for launch out of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, on Sunday, May 20 at 5:04 a.m. It is integrated into a CubeSat deployer, the mechanical assembly sent to the International Space Station on a resupply mission, which will ultimately set the satellite into orbit this summer.

Watch a short video from NASA, which explains how CubeRRT works.

Read previous coverage of CubeRRT, “Navigating the Noise.”

At the ElectroScience Laboratory (ESL), Ohio State leads the CubeRRT project, in collaboration with team members from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratoryin California and Blue Canyon Technologies in Colorado, which provided the CubeRRT spacecraft with solar power, communication, guidance and navigation systems. Ohio State ECE Research Associate Professor Chi-Chih Chen also developed an innovative antenna design for the radiometer.

One Earth-observing radiometer currently in orbit on NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)satellite serves as an example of how an RFI processor can provide better performance.

Days before Hurricane Matthew struck in 2016, Ohio State researchers used satellite maps of soil moisture to help forecast where power would go out along the East Coast.

Steven Quiring, professor of atmospheric sciences in the Department of Geography at Ohio State, said their results were 91 percent accurate – predicting 4.5 million people would be without power in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Quiring said their work was possible because of data from the SMAP satellite mission and its radiometer RFI processing technology. He was able to cross-reference SMAP data with population density, land use, average wind speed and the duration and intensity of storms to make their forecast model.

“Many of our team members worked together on the RFI processor used in the SMAP mission,” Johnson said. “The CubeRRT RFI processor greatly expands capabilities and enables operations in higher frequency bands than were used in SMAP.”

Ohio State research associate engineer Christa McKelvey said the CubeRRT radiometer operates with a bandwidth 50 times greater than that of SMAP. Its processor is able to remove RFI for signals at a 1 gigahertz bandwidth, well above the possibilities within the 20 megahertz used in the SMAP processor.

Research Scientist Chris Ball, also at Ohio State, said CubeRRT is expected to enter orbit this summer and remain active for approximately one year, providing valuable data during its lifetime to demonstrate the validity of the technology. Deployed from the International Space Station at 400 kilometers above Earth, the satellite will eventually burn up as the orbit diminishes during re-entry.

A test mission on a smaller scale like this is a good idea, Ball said.

“Satellites are expensive,” he said, “and it is important to ensure new technologies have been validated in space before their large-scale deployment.”

Ball also described how CubeRRT is able to collect and process data onboard the satellite – as opposed to sending the information down to the ground for scientists to decipher, the method used for processing SMAP data.

“Doing RFI processing on board the spacecraft is a major game changer,” Ball said. “CubeRRT collects a lot of raw data to improve RFI removal, more data than there is the capacity to send down for processing on the ground. Only by processing on board the spacecraft can we make this work.”

The CubeRRT project is funded through NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO). Space access is provided by NASA’s CubeSat Launch initiative, which helps make satellite research more accessible to scientists by providing lower-cost pathways to space. CubeRRT’s RFI processor was installed on a CubeSat, which is approximately the size of a shoebox.

For the CubeRRT team, being able to see their scientific goals achieved is a professional milestone.

“This is my first space-focused project,” Ball said.

McKelvey performed previous satellite development at Northrop Grumman, but never got the chance to see it function in orbit.

“Large satellite projects require a much longer process, at least 10 years, and I left the company before I was able to see my project launch,” she said.

In preparation for the CubeSat launch, NASA is planning to provide further coverage, as well as live social media posts and interviews with the Ohio State team.

Editor’s Notes:

Live launch coverage will begin at 4:30 a.m. Sunday May 20 on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Joel Johnson will participate in a prelaunch briefing at 1 p.m. Saturday May 19 which can be viewed on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Small Packages to Test Big Space Technology Advances

*Article originally posted on www.nasa.gov – https://www.nasa.gov/feature/small-packages-to-test-big-space-technology-advances

This weekend, when the next cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station lifts off from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, it will be carrying among its supplies and experiments three cereal box-sized satellites that will be used to test and demonstrate the next generation of Earth-observing technology.

NASA has been increasing its use of CubeSats — small satellites based on several configurations of approximately 4 x 4 x 4-inch cubes — to put new technologies in orbit where they can be tested in the harsh environment of space before being used as part of larger satellite missions or constellations of spacecraft.

The three CubeSat missions launching on Orbital ATK’s ninth commercial resupply mission represent a broad range of cutting-edge technologies housed in very small packages.

RainCube — a Radar in a CubeSat — is just that: a miniaturized precipitation-studying radar instrument that weighs just over 26 pounds. RainCube is smaller, has fewer components, and uses less power than traditional radar instruments. NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies (InVEST) program selected the project to demonstrate that such a diminutive radar can be operated successfully on a CubeSat platform.

This mission marks the first time an active radar instrument has been flown on a CubeSat.

If successful, RainCube could open the door for lower-cost, quick-turnaround constellation missions, in which multiple CubeSats work together to provide more frequent observations than a single satellite.

“A constellation of RainCube radars would be able to observe the internal structure of weather systems as they evolve according to processes that need to be better characterized in weather and climate forecasting models,” said RainCube Principal Investigator Eva Peral of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

RainCube will use wavelengths in the high-frequency Ka-band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Ka wavelengths work with smaller antennas (RainCube’s deployable antenna measures at just half a yard, or meter, across) and allow an exponential increase in data transfer over long distances — making RainCube a demonstration in improved communications as well. JPL developed the RainCube instrument, while Tyvak Inc. developed the spacecraft.

CubeSats can also be used to test new subsystems and techniques for improving data collection from space. Radio frequency interference (RFI) is a growing problem for space-based microwave radiometers, instruments important for studying soil moisture, meteorology, climate and other Earth properties.  As the number of RFI-causing devices — including cell phones, radios, and televisions — increases, it will be even more difficult for NASA’s satellite microwave radiometers to collect high-quality data.

To address this issue, NASA’s InVEST program funded a team led by Joel Johnson of The Ohio State University to develop CubeRRT, the CubeSat Radiometer Radio Frequency Interference Technology Validation mission. “Our technology,” said Johnson, “will make it so that our Earth-observing radiometers can still continue to operate in the presence of this interference.”

RFI already affects data collected by Earth-observing satellites. To mitigate this problem, measurements are transmitted to the ground where they are then processed to remove any RFI-corrupted data. It is a complicated process and requires more data to be transmitted to Earth. With future satellites encountering even more RFI, more data could be corrupted and missions might not be able to meet their science goals.

Johnson collaborated with technologists at JPL and Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, to develop the CubeRRT satellite to demonstrate the ability to detect RFI and filter out RFI-corrupted data in real time aboard the spacecraft. The spacecraft was developed by Blue Canyon Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.

One of the radiometer-collected weather measurements important to researchers involves cloud processes, specifically storm development and the identification of the time when rain begins to fall. Currently, weather satellites pass over storms just once every three hours, not frequently enough to identify many of the changes in dynamic storm systems. But the development of a new, extremely-compact radiometer system could change that.

NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder program selected Steven Reising of Colorado State University and partners at JPL to develop, build, and demonstrate a five-frequency radiometer based on newly available low-noise amplifier technologies developed with support from ESTO. The TEMPEST-D(Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems Demonstration) mission will validate the miniaturized radiometer technology and demonstrate the spacecraft’s ability to perform drag maneuvers to control TEMPEST-D’s low-Earth altitude and its position in orbit. The instrument fits into a Blue Canyon Technologies 6U CubeSat — the same size CubeSat as RainCube and CubeRRT.

“With a train-like constellation of TEMPEST-like CubeSats, we’d be able to take time samples every five to 10 minutes to see how a storm develops,” said Reising. This would improve upon the three-hour satellite revisit time, especially when collecting data on tropical storms like hurricanes that can quickly intensify and change.

RainCube, CubeRRT and TEMPEST-D are currently integrated aboard Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft and are awaiting launch on an Antares rocket.  After the CubeSats have arrived at the station, they will be deployed into low-Earth orbit and will begin their missions to test these new technologies useful for predicting weather, ensuring data quality, and helping researchers better understand storms.

CU Boulder Leading Team Building Tiny Satellite to Probe ‘Hot Jupiters’

By Charlie Brennan

Staff Writer – Daily Camera

BOULDER, Colo., November 1, 2017 – A team led by the University of Colorado has been chosen to build a tiny orbiting satellite to study the evaporating atmospheres of gigantic “hot Jupiters,” distant gaseous planets orbiting close to their parent stars.

According to Assistant Professor Kevin France, of CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, more than 100 gas giants to date have been discovered orbiting very close to their parent stars. France is lead scientist on the four-year, $3.3 million effort, to be funded by NASA.

France and his colleagues believe the new study of hot Jupiters — some of them so close to parent stars that they orbit them in only a matter of days — will give planetary scientists better understanding of the solar system’s evolution, according to a news release.

The CU team is building a CubeSat satellite called the Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment, only about the size of a shoebox, which will carry an ultraviolet telescope. The UV region of the spectrum was chosen for study, France said, because it is a “sweet spot” both for star brightness as well as finding heavy elements.

A news release states that France hopes the team studies between 12 and 20 hot Jupiters during the primary mission, expected to launch in early 2020 and to last eight months to a year.

The CUTE team includes researchers from the University of Arizona; the Space Research Institute of the American Academy of Science in Graz, Austria; Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland; the University of Toulouse in France, and the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Additionally, France’s team also is teaming with Boulder’s Blue Canyon Technologies, which is tasked with building the platform housing the CUTE payload.

BCT Opening New Small Satellite Manufacturing Center, will Build CubeSat Constellation for NASA Hurricane Observation

BOULDER, Colorado – October 31, 2017 – It’s no secret that hurricanes are affecting the United States in a dramatic way this year. In the past few months alone, the US and Caribbean regions have been impacted by multiple catastrophic storms.  To help understand why we are seeing such drastic changes in tropical storm patterns, Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) will build a constellation of CubeSats for an observing system for NASA to measure environmental inner-core conditions for tropical cyclones.

The 3U spacecraft will be built at BCT’s new Spacecraft Manufacturing Center (with over 45,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and office space) located in Boulder, Colorado. Opening in early 2018, the office and laboratories will be designed specifically for high-volume production of small spacecraft systems and components, with the manufacturing capability to handle large constellations of small spacecraft.

BCT will build seven identical XACT-based 3U-class CubeSats for the Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission. The satellites will be divided into three low-Earth orbital planes and will consist of a single high-performance radiometer payload hosted on each spacecraft bus. Each payload includes a BCT-designed motor as well as electronics to control the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory (LL) payload spin mechanism.

Under the terms of a contract, BCT will manufacture each 3U spacecraft bus, integrate the radiometer payloads from MIT LL and test each complete spacecraft. One qualification unit and six flight units will be delivered over the course of the contract.

The objective of the TROPICS mission is to provide the first high-revisit microwave observations of precipitation, temperature and humidity over tropical regions. These successive measurements will be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the intermediate or large scale over the entire storm lifecycle. The measurements will also help assess impacts on a storm’s track and intensity.

“The TROPICS mission is the first to use a constellation of CubeSats for high-revisit microwave observations of weather. BCT is excited to see our high-performance CubeSat bus being used in such an important scientific mission. We’re taking advantage of the opportunities that constellations can realize.,” said George Stafford, BCT president. “This constellation will also be the first to use our much larger and more capable small satellite manufacturing facility currently being built near our existing offices.  This new capability will allow us to build, test, and integrate small satellites from CubeSats up to 200 kg ESPA class.”

BCT’s highly integrated 3U CubeSat includes an ultra-precise attitude control system that allows for accurate knowledge and fine-pointing of the satellite payload.  The BCT bus avionics also includes electrical power and command and data handling systems designed for long life and reliability over the course of the mission lifetime.

Completion and delivery of the qualification unit is currently scheduled for the 4th Quarter of 2018, while the six flight units are scheduled for delivery in the 1st quarter of 2019.

About Blue Canyon Technologies

Blue Canyon Technologies, Inc. is a privately held business founded in 2008 to bring high-performance, affordable solutions to space missions. The company is an innovative, experienced integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced aerospace products and technologies. For the latest news on Blue Canyon Technologies and for other company information, please visit www.bluecanyontech.com.

Smallsat companies band together in new spectrum-advocacy organization

Originally posted in Space News by Caleb Henry — September 22, 2017

LONDON — Eleven small satellite companies are establishing a trade association to address spectrum policies and regulations specific to the no-longer-tiny smallsat industry.

The group, called the Commercial Smallsat Spectrum Management Association, or CSSMA, will focus on issues unique to smallsats not addressed by the Satellite Industry Association, whose membership largely consists of established geostationary satellite operators, launch providers, and network operators.

Founding members of the CSSMA are satellite operators Astro Digital, HawkEye 360, Kepler Communications, Planet and Spire; ground station operators KSAT and RBC Signals; manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies; law firm Hogan Lovells; NanoRacks and the nonprofit research organization Aerospace Corporation.
Four CSSMA members — Planet, Spire, Aerospace Corp. and HawkEye 360 — are also part of Washington-based SIA.

CSSMA members hope that their collective voices will gain more attention when it comes to spectrum access.

“The speed with which small satellite technologies can be brought to market is rapidly outpacing the ability of the current coordination process to manage the use of shared spectrum,” the association said in a statement. “CSSMA will bring together the small satellite community to collaborate with all space industry participants and government agencies to streamline the frequency coordination process.”

In an interview with SpaceNews, Jonathan Rosenblatt, Spire’s general counsel, said a notice of proposed rule making from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission expected early next year about small satellites will be a “big priority” for CSSMA. Similarly, smallsat rule-making at the 2019 World Radiocommunications Conference — the United Nation’s once-every-four-years gathering of governments, regulators and companies to address international spectrum allocations — sits near the top of the association’s agenda, he said.

“Legacy satellite providers often deal with different issues and have their own organizations, such as SIA, and we don’t want to duplicate those organizations,” Rosenblatt said. “We really want to fill a niche and give a voice to a new and growing part of the industry which has unique spectrum and operational needs.”

CSSMA doesn’t have a specific definition of who is and who isn’t part of the small satellite industry. Rosenblatt described the industry as existing and prospective small satellite operators and associated service providers (such as launch, manufacture and ground station services).

“We want to be a broad and inclusive organization,” he said.

For smallsat operators, frequency coordinations can be a life or death issue. CSSMA said failure to make peace with the myriad of incumbent spectrum users “may result in missed launches and even the possibility of shutdown of assets in space.”

Rosenblatt said leaders in the association, prior to its recent formalization, had been meeting together consistently for over a year now amongst themselves and with representatives from U.S. federal agencies including the FCC, NASA and NOAA. He said those members began the formalization process a few months ago. Federal agencies are allowed an observer status to continue their participation and view-sharing, he said.

In addition to spectrum, Rosenblatt said CSSMA will also address orbital debris mitigation — a larger concern in low-Earth orbit where most smallsats dwell — U.S. and international licensing processes, and will follow legislation that impacts the smallsat industry.

CSSMA will also seek to educate new entrants on how to avoid hurdles when starting a smallsat business.

“The smallsat industry is growing at an incredible rate and new companies need to understand the operational and regulatory challenges ahead of them,” Craig Scheffler, Planet’s spectrum manager, said in a statement. “There is a lot of ‘know how’ that we can share to help increase the odds of success and make this community stronger.”

While most CSSMA founding members are American, Rosenblatt said the group hopes to grow internationally as its numbers rise.

Update: the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab joined as CSSMA’s twelfth founding member shortly after this article was published.