Satellite Imaging, Rocket Planes and Hurricanes
Here are Some of the Top Stories from The Journal of Space Commerce This Week
The "Commercial Satellite Imaging Market Size and Forecast" from Verified Market Research has been released. The report forecasts that the market is expected to reach $12.47 billion by 2030. The market is forecast to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.78 percent through the forecast period.
This market is at the forefront of revolutionizing decision-making across industries. With its wide applications in urban planning, natural resource management, and national security, the market is growing rapidly.
The amalgamation of AI and machine learning is revolutionizing the market, according to the report. These technologies facilitate expedited and precise processing of satellite data, enhancing decision-making in sectors such as agriculture, energy, and urban planning. Companies providing AI-augmented satellite imaging solutions are acquiring a competitive advantage, facilitating new avenues for growth and innovation.
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Impulse Space has secured $150 million in Series B funding in a round led by Founders Fund. The funding, which follows a series of recent milestone moments for the company, will be used to further grow the Impulse team and to support the ongoing production of both the Helios and Mira vehicles. The Series B round brings Impulse’s total funding to date to $225 million.
The Series B funding continues the strong momentum for Impulse. This year alone, the company has been selected by SpaceWERX for a Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) award, two Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) awards, announced a new GEO Rideshare Program, and completed the record-setting LEO Express-1 mission. The team is currently preparing for the upcoming launch of the LEO Express-2 mission, which will see a Mira vehicle support deployment and hosting services for multiple customers.
The round also included participation from other returning investors like Lux Capital and Spring Tide, as well as attracting new investors, such as DCVC.
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The Mk-II Aurora rocket-powered aircraft developed by Dawn Aerospace has demonstrated same-day reusability with two flights within 8 hours.
The flights took place from Glentanner Aerodrome on the South Island of New Zealand, both reaching speeds of Mach 0.9 and an altitude of 63,000 ft. These were the 8th and 9th flights of the Mk-II Aurora under rocket power.
The Mk-II Aurora is designed to be the first vehicle ever to fly to 100 km altitude, the edge of space, twice in a single day. This is equivalent performance to the first stage of an orbital class two-stage rocket. However, unlike a traditional rocket, the Aurora is certified as an aircraft using a conventional runway and without the need for exclusive airspace.
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We might not normally cover a story like this, but as much of the southeastern US recovers from back-to-back major hurricanes, a retired aerospace engineer and rocket scientist says he has invented a way to prevent their formation, and he's been awarded three US patents for his technology, the most recent being on October 8, 2024.
Bruce Morton resides in Northern Virginia and the US Virgin Islands. He retired from Lockheed Martin, and still works in the aerospace, intelligence and defense business. He currently serves as President of 2 Oceans, an engineering & consulting company.
According to Morton, breaking up hurricanes as they're beginning to form can be accomplished by beaming microwaves from multiple Space-Based Solar Power satellites, and focusing the microwaves in a non-symmetrical pattern onto a tropical depression on earth, which is a precursor to a tropical storm and then a hurricane (alternatively called a cyclone or typhoon) to unbalance and destabilize the tropical depression as it is trying to organize and beginning to rotate, thus preventing it from developing into a hurricane. When not focused on a tropical depression, the microwaves can instead be beamed onto a solar farm on earth to generate green power in the form of electricity, thus creating renewable energy as well as helping to alleviate the cost of operating the system solely for hurricane prevention.
The idea is just in the concept stage, so don't look for satellites to be preventing hurricane formation at least in the near future.
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This week on the Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talks with Christine Joseph, Policy Advisor to NOAA currently supporting the TraCSS program.
The 27th edition of the Novaspace "Satellites to be Built and Launched” report forecasts that an average of over 3,700 satellites will be launched annually between 2024 and 2033 – equivalent to 10 satellites per day.
NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce (OSC) is developing the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) to provide basic space situational awareness (SSA) data and services to civil and private space operators and to support spaceflight safety, space sustainability, and international coordination, and on September 30, 2024, OSC announced that the initial phase of TraCSS has begun delivering spaceflight safety services to a beta group of satellite operators.