Buying time (7/6/23)

Good morning. We missed Space Mike Wednesday because of the holiday that has us confused about what day it is, so we’re doing this week’s shout-out one day late!

Today’s Space Mike is Michael Koenig, a flight software engineer manager at Terran Orbital (and the longest-tenured Mike at the company, according to his nomination from Terie McHale, the company’s trade show coordinator.)

Reply to this email to nominate your favorite Space Mike.

Today’s newsletter:
⏳ Rivada gets more time
👋 Ariane 5 says goodbye
📝 The contract report

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Time’s a-ticking

Rivada Space Networks has been racing against the clock to deploy a secure, laser-linked LEO comms constellation before a deadline imposed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The company was on track to miss the first goalpost, which required 10% of its 576-satellite constellation in orbit and working by September.

The ITU has issued a waiver, however, allowing Rivada to bypass the first deadline and retain its spectrum rights, so long as it can meet the second deployment deadline in mid-2026.

Backing up: Last year, Rivada emerged with big plans for the first privately owned secure communications constellation for government and enterprise users, as well as a trick up its sleeve: a high-priority, 4,000 MHz region of Ka-band.

• Rivada acquired these spectrum rights from Liechtenstein-based Trion Space back in 2014.

• These rights are key for their higher-priority designation over other LEO megaconstellations, notably Starlink and Kuiper, since Trion beat them to the punch.

• This means that Rivada has the right to receive and transmit data on this band before its competitors when there’s a conflict, ensuring greater speed and reliability of its own network.

The LEO constellation will carry data routers onboard and communicate via a mesh network of laser links, allowing customers to transmit data as quickly as—or faster than—terrestrial fiber optics.

Race against time: Those spectrum rights came with a caveat. The ITU wants that space used, and fast. The ITU deadlines:

• 10% of the constellation by September 2023

• 144 satellites plus six spares by June 2026

• An additional 144 satellites and six spares by September 2026

• The rest by 2028

Rivada has acknowledged that it wouldn’t have been possible to meet the September deadline, but applied for a waiver from the ITU on the basis that it has contracts in place for satellites and launch partners. The ITU approved that waiver at its meeting this week.

Breathing room: Now that the first deadline has been forgiven by the ITU, “we are working very closely with the regulator to make sure that all the conditions attached to these filings are satisfied and to ensure the success of these groundbreaking satellite constellations,” Rivada CEO Declan Ganley said in a release.

Rivada awarded Terran Orbital ($LLAP) a monster $2.4B contract in February to build the first fleet of 288 satellites and 16 spares for a grand total of 300 birds. Terran received its first milestone payment for an undisclosed amount in April, and both companies say that manufacturing is on track to meet the 2026 deadline.

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Bye, Bye Miss Ariane 5

Ariane 5 bid farewell yesterday as it launched into the night sky for the very last time.

The hardest goodbyes: After 25 years, 116 launches, and 82 consecutive flights without a full failure, ESA is retiring its workhorse rocket. Its final flight carried France’s Syracuse 4B satellite, which will provide army comms, and Germany’s Heinrich Hertz satellite, which will test new communications tech.

Ariane 5’s retirement marks the end of an era that transformed Europe into a reliable gateway to space. The rocket will likely be best remembered for chauffeuring some of human’s most important scientific instruments into orbit, including:

• JUICE Jovian explorer in 2023

• James Webb Space Telescope in 2021

• BepiColombo Mercury probe in 2018

• Herschel Space Observatory in 2009

• Planck space telescope in 2009

• Rosetta comet orbiter/lander in 2004

Next of kin: Europe will now face a gap in launch capability as the Ariane 6 replacement rocket, which was supposed to be ready before Ariane 5’s retirement, is unlikely to fly until 2024.

The launch capacity issue is further compounded by persistent problems encountered by the Vega C rocket, an ESA platform that suffered a mid-flight failure in December. Plus, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions forced Arianespace to discontinue its use of the Soyuz rocket.

The bottom line: With a significant void in launch capacity, European satellite operators will need to look at the limited supply overseas to meet their growing payload demand.

In Other News

• Uncertainty hangs over space tourism regulations.

• India’s commercial space sector is thriving, with 140+ space-tech startups.

• North Korea’s failed spy satellite could not collect intel from orbit, Seoul said.

• SES departing CEO Steve Collar discusses why he decided to leave.

The View from Complex 39B

NASA shared an image on Monday of the SLS rocket that launched the Artemis I mission illuminated by a full Moon while undergoing testing on the pad in Florida last year.