ORBITS (9/14/22)

Good morning. Later today and tomorrow, Foundation for the Future is hosting a speaker series event on space media and policy. Catch Payload reporter Rachael Zisk moderating the afternoon sessions.

In today's newsletter:🌐 ORBITS Act📲 SkyFi app 📝 Cyber survey💸 Term sheet

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The ORBITS Act

This week, Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced the Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act on the Congress floor. The bipartisan bill is aimed at developing active debris removal (ADR) technology, with the eventual goal of removing dangerous debris objects from orbit.

The debris problem: 100M+ individual pieces of debris are in Earth orbit right now, ranging from flecks of dust and paint to spent American and Soviet boosters to decommissioned, defunct satellites. As the space industry gears up to launch tens of thousands of satellites in the coming decade, spacefaring nations’ governments are figuring out how to stop the dreaded Kessler syndrome before it becomes a reality.

Orbital debris is notoriously difficult to regulate. So far, humans have yet to actively remove debris from orbit. While rapidly advancing, ADR is far from the promised land of commercial viability.

“With any new technology, government investment in R&D is essential,” Chris Blackerby, COO of Astroscale, told Payload a few months ago. Public investment can help get innovative new ideas, like ADR, over the “valley of death.”

• For its part, the US Space Force plans to “prime” ADR and other on-orbit servicing technologies by kickstarting market incentives and helping fund demoes.

Draft legislation

The ORBITS act spans four pillars. The bill would:

1. Direct NASA, the Office of Space Commerce (OSC), and the National Space Council (NSpC) to create a list of the most dangerous pieces of debris in orbit

2. Direct NASA to create a program focused on debris removal R&D

3. Update orbital debris mitigation guidelines across multiple government agencies

4. Require OSC, NSpC, and the FCC to develop practices to improve space situational awareness and space traffic management.

The second provision would allow NASA to petition industry for ADR demonstrations, a major step for advancing this technology in the US. The bill recommends appropriations of $150M from 2023 to 2027.

+ While we’re here…Orbital debris mitigation is top-of-mind across US government agencies. Yesterday, NASA announced funding for three research proposals on the topic of space sustainability, focusing on the economic, social, and policy impacts. The three awardees:

1. Richard Linares and Danielle Wood from MIT and Moriba Jah from UT Austin

2. Akhil Rao from Middlebury College, Daniel Kaffine from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation

3. Patrice Kohl, Sergio Alvarez, and Philip Metzger of the University of Central Florida

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SkyFi Launches App in Beta, Tops Off Seed Round

SkyFi has a very ambitious vision: making satellite imagery available and accessible for the masses. But before it can even dream about widespread EO democratization, the Austin, TX startup must develop a clean, consumerized experience, with a web portal and mobile app that support a marketplace for imagery, data, and analytics.

To that end, SkyFi has redesigned its website and this week launched its mobile app in beta. The iOS and Android app currently has ~300 “curated” users, SkyFi CEO Luke Fischer told Payload, and the company will continue onboarding in waves. The startup currently has a headcount of 26, with 15 engineers. Fischer says SkyFi is “making a big push” to build a diverse team and that 25% of its engineering team is female.

Team work makes the dream work: SkyFi has quickly added new partners onto its platform, which now pulls from 40+ satellites and 13 imagery providers and analytics vendors. The startup signed its two newest partners, SIIS and Geosat, at WSBW this morning.

Extra runway makes the world go round: SkyFi has topped off its initial ~$7M seed round and has now raised $10M. The startup opted to fortify its balance sheet with a bit more cash due to “changing global and market conditions,” Fischer said.

Looking ahead...The SkyFi app’s global launch is roughly two months out, but it’s a “very tentative” moving target. SkyFi must squash any bugs found in the beta app and iterate based on early user feedback.

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Pléiades Neo is Airbus' most advanced optical constellation with ultimate reactivity. Two satellites are already in orbit and the next two are scheduled to launch in November.

Entirely funded, owned, and operated by Airbus, Pléiades Neo is commercially available and offers 30cm native resolution data with the ability to task the satellites just minutes before a new collection is needed.

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Interested to learn more about the constellation, what the imagery is used for, and see how to access it?

Take our Cybersecurity Survey

Payload and SpiderOak have partnered to conduct research on cybersecurity in the space industry. Calling all industry insiders...help us gather insights on the state of play in space systems' cybersecurity, and provide a look into what needs to change. Make the voice and cyber needs of you or your organization heard.

It will only take you a few minutes to complete the survey. Better yet, we'll share an aggregated analysis of our findings with everyone who participates.

In Other News

• NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen will step down in December.

• Japan and Germany joined the US’s pledge to not conduct destructive, kinetic energy ASAT tests. Here’s a readout of Washington’s stance on developing space norms, delivered to the UN in Geneva yesterday.

• Viasat ($VSAT) CEO Mark Dankberg said the advent of direct-to-cell service will require industry-wide changes to policy, regulation, and orbital coordination.

• AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) engineers have established comms, stabilized, and taken control of BlueWalker 3.

• Starlink Business rolled out in France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. SpaceX also signed a deal to supply Starlink capacity to satellite service provider Speedcast.

• Polaris Dawn kicked off spacewalk training at SpaceX HQ.

• Sierra’s LIFE completed an ultimate burst pressure test. LIFE = the Large Inflatable Flexible Environment habitat.

The View from Space

Seen above: the ISS's fine-tuned robotic arm, in all of its glory. The Canadarm2 robotic arm goes by the name "Dextre" and performs routine, precise maintenance chores on the exterior of the space station.