{"id":13941,"date":"2018-03-12T19:07:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T11:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacexs-most-recent-launch-carried-a-secret-military-funded-experiment\/"},"modified":"2018-03-12T19:07:27","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T11:07:27","slug":"spacexs-most-recent-launch-carried-a-secret-military-funded-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacexs-most-recent-launch-carried-a-secret-military-funded-experiment\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX\u2019s most recent launch carried a secret military-funded experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_31038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31038\" style=\"width: 675px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-31038\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat1-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat1-768x508.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat1-678x448.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s illustration of a Payload Orbital Delivery System accommodation on a Space Systems\/Loral-built telecom satellite. Credit: SSL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A previously-undisclosed payload funded by a U.S. military research agency rode into orbit with a Spanish communications satellite on SpaceX\u2019s most recent Falcon 9 rocket launch March 6, officials said Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The small spacecraft was fastened inside the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite, then ejected soon after the Falcon 9\u2019s primary payload deployed in orbit following liftoff from Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n<p>Officials from Space Systems\/Loral and NovaWurks, two companies involved in the project, acknowledged the existence of the secret secondary satellite after publicly-available orbital data published by the U.S. military registered an unexpected object attributed to Tuesday\u2019s launch named PODSat.<\/p>\n<p>The companies declined to release details about the secondary satellite\u2019s mission or design, and a spokesperson for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, did not respond to multiple requests for information regarding the PODSat mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSSL\u2019s innovative secondary payload release system was successfully tested on Hispasat 30W-6,\u201d said Wendy Lewis, a spokesperson for SSL, based in Palo Alto, California. \u201cThis was an R&amp;D (Research and Development) mission not related to the ongoing operation of the Hispasat satellite. Rideshare arrangements such as this are becoming more common as they help defray the cost of launch and drive innovation for our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not disclosing further details about the secondary payload at this time but we are optimistic about its potential as part of the SSL future R&amp;D roadmap,\u201d Lewis said in a written statement in response to Spaceflight Now questions.<\/p>\n<p>SSL provided a ride for the PODSat testbed satellite built in partnership with NovaWurks, headquartered in Los Alamitos, California. According to its website, NovaWurks specializes in assembly of small spacecraft using \u201csatlets,\u201d cellular components that engineers can connect together to create custom and conformable payloads.<\/p>\n<p>James Greer, chief operating officer at NovaWurks wrote in an email Friday that the PODSat spacecraft is functioning according to plan, but he declined to answer questions on the satellite\u2019s mass, design, or purpose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are very pleased with the successful&nbsp;launch and deployment of PODSat over that past several days. Everything is going well and we continue to receive&nbsp;positive data with each pass,\u201d Greer said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, as this is a DARPA project, we are not at liberty to discuss any specifics or details relative to the mission, except as approved by DARPA,\u201d Greer said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PhUucYTzgRE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>NovaWurks developed what it calls the Hyper-Integrated Satlet, or HISat, architecture with funding from DARPA\u2019s Phoenix program, chartered to find lower-cost ways of building satellites and delivering them to space. Each HISat cell is a self-contained spacecraft, and engineers can connect multiple HISats to expand capability based on a mission\u2019s specific requirements.<\/p>\n<p>DARPA\u2019s Phoenix program also backed development of SSL\u2019s Payload Orbital Delivery System, or PODS, the mechanism which held the PODSat spacecraft inside the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite during launch.<\/p>\n<p>The Phoenix initiative was originally established by DARPA to use satlets to harvest components from a disused satellite, but officials changed the aim of the program to focus on satellite servicing, inspection and low-cost manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p>According to documents posted on SSL\u2019s website, the standard PODS accommodation on a telecom satellite like Hispasat 30W-6 can carry a secondary satellite with a mass as high as 200 pounds, or 90 kilograms. The housing is built into the host satellite inside unused battery bays, big enough to carry a deployable payload measuring 3.3 feet (1 meter) by 1.6 feet (50 centimeters) by 1.3 feet (40 centimeters).<\/p>\n<p>SSL\u2019s brochure on the rideshare capability suggests the host satellite can provide video of the secondary payload\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<p>The PODS mechanism could support missions in space situational awareness and Earth observation, tech demo test craft, satellite servicing platforms, and scientific missions, such as space telescopes or interplanetary probes, according to SSL.<\/p>\n<p>SSL says it has identified at least six launch opportunities for PODS secondary payloads per year. In 2016, there were 11 SSL-built communications satellites launched with space available for PODS-type secondary payloads, according to the company\u2019s PODS user\u2019s guide.<\/p>\n<p>The PODSat satellite was described in a paper presented by NovaWurks engineers at the 2016 SmallSat Conference in Utah.<\/p>\n<p>PODSat was expected to fly with four HISat cells assembled into a \u201cPODS chassis,\u201d according to the paper.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31039\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31039\" style=\"width: 850px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31039\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat2.jpg 850w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat2-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat2-768x538.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/podsat2-678x475.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31039\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SSL\u2019s secondary Payload Orbital Delivery System mechanism can be positioned on several locations on the company\u2019s SSL 1300-series satellite bus. Credit: SSL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The PODS chassis is likely a reference to a PODS spacecraft bus, or platform, offered by SSL. The PODS spacecraft bus, which SSL says is built with an electric propulsion system, is designed to be compatible with the PODS bay on an SSL-built communications satellite.<\/p>\n<p>PODSat was expected to test the performance of the HISat cells in combination with a standard satellite structure \u2014 the PODS chassis, NovaWurks engineers wrote in the SmallSat Conference paper.<\/p>\n<p>NovaWurks\u2019 first satellite \u2014 named Satlet Initial Mission Proofs and Lessons, or SIMPL \u2014 launched with six HISat cells in 2015 that were assembled by astronauts on the International Space Station. The spacecraft was released from the space station last year to begin standalone experiments.<\/p>\n<p>PODSat is the second mission to test out NovaWurks\u2019 satlet concept in orbit. A third satlet demonstrator, incorporating 14 HISat cells, is scheduled for blastoff later this year on a rideshare mission arranged by Spaceflight Industries for launch on a Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket placed the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite in a \u201csub-synchronous\u201d transfer orbit ranging in altitude between 115 miles (185 kilometers) and 13,285 miles (22,250 kilometers) above Earth, inclined approximately 27 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n<p>Hispasat 30W-6 deployed PODSat in the same orbit before beginning maneuvers to raise its altitude toward geosynchronous orbit nearly 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator.<\/p>\n<p>Read our earlier coverage of the launch for details on the Hispasat 30W-6 mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe potential benefits to payload designers are obvious,\u201d NovaWurks wrote in the SmallSat paper. \u201cHISats provide an app-based, open-source approach\u201d to provide simple user-created software to coordinate spacecraft hardware.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis enables HISats to be aggregated together informationally so that satlet resource exposure and sharing is transparent to the operation of the system. This critical resource-sharing software provides for basic capability that tailors performance by varying the number of HISats interoperating without skipping a beat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Talbot&nbsp;Jaeger, founder and chief technologist at NovaWurks, described the satlet concept in a promotional video released by the company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA spacecraft provides a way of carrying a payload in space,\u201d Jaeger said. \u201cA payload can be a telescope, a transceiver, or some other device. It\u2019s typically built to fit the spacecraft, but at NovaWurks, we believe that a designer should be free to build his payload to meet his needs, while we add the support required for space operations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With the HISat design, \u201ca spacecraft that actually conforms to the payload, not the other way around,\u201d he said. \u201cIts advantages are it\u2019s easily configurable and flexible. It\u2019s rapidly developed and deployed from order-to-orbit, and it\u2019s cost-efficient because from the heart of it, it\u2019s mass-produceable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artist\u2019s illustration of a Payload Orbital Delivery System accommodation on a Space Systems\/Loral-built telecom satellite. Credit: SSL A previously-undisclosed payload funded by a U.S. military research agency rode into orbit with a Spanish communications satellite on SpaceX\u2019s most recent Falcon 9 rocket launch March 6, officials said Friday. The small spacecraft was fastened inside the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1504,479,3016,3017,25,2886,3018,3019],"class_list":["post-13941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-darpa","tag-falcon-9","tag-hispasat","tag-hispasat-30w-6","tag-launch","tag-novawurks","tag-pods","tag-podsat"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}