Page 89 - SAMENA Trends - April-May 2021

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UK SpaceTech Open Cosmos Launches Two Satellites to Bring Connectivity

to Hard-To-Reach Areas Across the Globe

Leading UK SpaceTech firm Open Cosmos has achieved a major they need to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges
milestone in its mission to democratize space with the launch from climate change, to civil protection and emergencies and
of two commercial nanosatellites created entirely at its Harwell infrastructure. Rafel Jordá, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos,
Campus-based HQ in the heart of the UK’s space industry. The said: “These launches mark a major milestone for Open Cosmos,
launch saw two Open Cosmos nanosatellites launched into demonstrating the capacity of low-cost satellites to provide IoT
the skies aboard the Soyuz-2 rocket from the Baikonur base in connectivity to remote parts of the world and collect data. With
Kazakhstan where Sputnik was launched, along with the South £300bn of wider UK GDP supported by satellite services, Open
Korean Earth observation satellite CAS500-1, and around 30 Cosmos is key to unlocking these services and making them
other satellites. One of the Open Cosmos satellites is the latest more accessible for businesses and governments across the
addition to the Lacuna Space IoT constellation, which provides world. We’re also extremely proud that launches have been made
a service using LoRaWAN®, a leading open global standard for possible by working closely with the UKSA, ESA, the Catapult and
IoT LPWAN connectivity, along with a new demonstrator satellite all our partner companies at Harwell Campus and abroad. We look
for telecoms operator Sateliot to provide 5G Internet of Things forward to continuing to push forward the potential for UK space
(IoT) capabilities in remote areas across the globe. The satellites tech in 2021 and beyond.”
travelled to Kazakhstan, after passing strict testing in controlled
environments and receiving the operations license from the UK
Space Agency (UKSA). The device was then integrated into the
deployer in the rocket, which when the Soyuz-2.1A rocket hit
500km from Earth, was ejected in order to take up its mission to
travel around the earth and provide connectivity services. Now
the satellites are up in space Open Cosmos will be monitoring
and operating the mission from four ground stations around
the globe, which can all be managed by the team on behalf
of their partners through OpenOps, Open Cosmos’s satellite
operations software. Open Cosmos operates space missions
from start to finish by manufacturing and building satellites as
well as handling the mission, satellite operation and services. The
company, which was created five years ago, was established with
a view to open up space by making it more affordable for small
businesses and governments to utilize satellites to access data

TUSAŞ to Export Satellite to Argentina

Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ), owned by the S.E. at Ankara ODTÜ Teknokent and started TUSAŞ, GSATCOM and INVAP engineers
Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) their new generation communication within three years and the production
and Turkish Armed Forces Foundation satellite development program activities will be completed in 2024. The satellite
(TSKGV), has taken an important step in in 2019. These sales abroad to Argentina that will serve in Geosynchronous Orbit
terms of exports in space and satellite are a first for Turkey in next generation will have strategic superiorities involving
projects. GSATCOM, the subsidiary of communication technology the area of many technological innovations. The new
TUSAŞ in the space field, will export intellectual and industrial property rights. generation ARSAT-SG1 Satellite, which will
technologies on “HTS Communications Within the scope of the project, TUSAŞ will be used for civilian data transfer and has a
Satellite with High Output Power” be fulfilling the first export of our country fully electric propulsion system, is expected
to ARSAT S.A., Argentina’s national in the field of space by selling various to achieve a technologically important
telecommunication company. GSATCOM satellite subsystems, equipment and position among its peers throughout the
Space Technologies Inc. was established engineering services. With the GSATCOM world with its output capacity exceeding
by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) license, the ARSAT-SG1 Communication 50 Gbps in Ka-band.
in partnership with Argentina-based INVAP Satellite is planned to be developed by

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