Jens Janke – Raumfahrt-KMU

NEXT STAGE TO SPACE Industry Day May 22nd, 2023, Ottobrunn, Germany

By Jens Janke on 16. May 2023in Common, Companies, Politics

The industry day is positioned as a mere prelude to the formal open call for SPARK funding and the consequent TEB process. It will bring together relevant candidates for the SPARK funding with ESA, the LSIs and the general public. Its main objective is to promote information exchange among the interested parties (start-ups, universities, SMEs) and disseminate the results during and post the event.

Here you will meet all the stakeholders that are making Next Stage to Space project alive. You can be one of them!

The Industry Day is free of charge.

More information follow this link.

Registration follow HERE.

Point of Contact

Email to team@nextstage.space

NSTS_logos

Aviosonic´s patented DeCAS for tracking and re-entry footprint prediction extending high- tech-lead of Europe´s satellite deorbit system “ADEO” unassailably

By Jens Janke on 12. May 2023in Common, Companies, Politics

MoU of Space SMEs Aviosonic and HPS to join forces fighting space debris – right in time for Europe´s new constellation IRIS²

(Munich-Milano, May 11 th , 2023). At testified TRL-9 and with solid flight heritage the sail system “ADEO” already is the leading device for quickly deorbiting almost all satellites, thus preventing spacecrafts after their end of mission from becoming as well as producing new space junk for years to come. Because it is a sail, it does not produce any pollution itself, chemical or otherwise, and because this very sail will be in its next version also transparent and absolutely non-reflective, it does not cause any irritations to any space observer on earth. Munich based spacetech innovator HPS, a medium sized company with a subsidiary in Romania and a total headcount of 80, has invested – together with several institutional and industrial partners – 12 years of constant development and qualifying into ADEO, and is now ready to take yet another giant leap by joining innovative forces with Aviosonic Space Tech, Milan/Italy.

Aviosonic Space Tech, born in 2015, owns the patented DeCAS system (Debris Collision Alert System) for in-orbit/de-orbit tracking and re-entry footprint prediction of space vehicles. DeCAS is a 1U mm system which always maintains a constant link with the ground operation center allowing precise information on the satellite position, along with the calculation of the re-entry footprint in real time, with the aim of collision avoidance between satellites, satellites and aircrafts as well as to alert government agencies. The technical characteristics and modularity allow DeCAS to be installed on any space vehicle, offering different services depending on the mission requirements. DeCAS, which took part in different space missions, provides a unique service or satellite tracking, decommissioning and re-entry prediction in real-time.

Prof. Piermarco Martegani, CEO of Aviosonic Space Tech says:”The integration between DeCAS and ADEO allows the creation of a unique product on the market capable of strongly implementing the safety of space operations both during orbital and decommissioning re-entry phases, even in the event of failure of the hosting satellite. This safety information is also needed by the Air Traffic Management System. The collaboration between Aviosonic Space Tech and HPS is the demonstration that in order to guarantee safety during space operations, an international cooperation between SMEs is necessary.”

HPS-CEO Ernst K. Pfeiffer shows bulletproof confidence in the future of ADEO on the world market and emphasizes: “ADEO has all the facts on its side: first, all space industry badly needs a deorbit device like ADEO, since the faster the sail opens free orbit positions, the longer we can keep space as a sustainable surrounding. And, from second to infinite: ADEO combines TRL9 and flight heritage, offers a comprehensive range of models, beats economically as well as ecologically any other type of deorbit device, also it is already in serial production at HPS. And now we even join forces with the two outstanding innovators in their fields, and others will join, underlining once again what´s at the core of ADEO: 100 percent European, 100 percent SME, 100 percent sustainability in space – and exactly what Europe wants for IRIS².”

Point of contact
HPS: Daniel Stelzl, stelzl@hps-gmbh.com
Aviosonic: Prof. Piermarco Martegani, info@aviosonic.it

ADEO
German: https://www.hps-gmbh.com/tag/adeo/
English: https://www.hps-gmbh.com/en/tag/adeo-en/
Video: https://youtu.be/pUeSZzdn_6c

Objects in Space: AstriaGraph

By Jens Janke on 8. March 2023in Common, Companies

Uncountable satellites and debris are orbiting our planet Earth. The number is still increasing.

A visualisation is done by Professor Moriba Jah, Universität of Texas, named AstriaGraph.

His page HERE and AstriaGraph

Point of contact: Associate Professor Moriba K. Jah

Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Cockrell School of Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Email: moriba@utexas.edu

Phone: +1-512-471-5322

ADEO: a new chapter in space history in six seconds Historical video evidence from HPS and D-Orbit

By Jens Janke on 28. February 2023in Common, Companies

On December 15, 2022, at 12:10 UTC, the world’s unique ADEO braking sail from the German space technology company HPS GmbH, Munich, opened the chapter of sustainability for international spaceflight 500 kilometers above the Earth: as planned, on time and precisely, the sail attached to the ION SCV 003 satellite unfurled over an area of 3.6 square meters to remove “its” satellite from orbit in the shortest possible time without leaving any residue, thus avoiding hazards for other space vehicles and making room for the next generation of satellites at its former orbital position. Preliminary studies and calculations indicate that this will reduce the descent time not by half, as originally expected, but rather by as much as five times.

The video, recorded directly on site with the on-board camera of the ION satellite of the Italian cooperation partner D-Orbit, provides live proof: with the product of HPS, which is now ready for series production after twelve years of development with great support from ESA, DLR and the Bavarian government, a new era of responsibility in space is beginning. ADEO is manufactured in series by HPS at its sites in Munich and Bucharest, primarily for constellation satellites. ADEO products are available for satellites weighing up to 2,500 kilograms at flight altitudes of up to 800 km. Even higher-flying satellites can be operated with ADEO if they have previously lowered their orbit accordingly using their own propulsion. HPS CEO Ernst K. Pfeiffer: “With ADEO on board, satellites do not become space junk in the first place. And at conditions that are ALWAYS more economical than all other options.”

HPS

Ansprechpartner: Daniel Stelzl
ADEO-Kontakt: adeo@hps-gmbh.com
ADEO – News & Image: https://www.hps-gmbh.com/category/2022/
Telefon: +49 (89) 4520576-0

Qualification success for HPS in space: Smallest version of ADEO braking sail successfully deployed

By Jens Janke on 28. February 2023in Common, Companies

For 16 months now, an ION satellite carrier of the Italian service provider for unmanned space transportation D-Orbit has been orbiting the Earth in low orbit. Launched by a Falcon 9 on June 30th 2021, it has only one last task after the mission launch of the high-tech passengers from eleven countries: to sail gently as if on “angel wings” to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere in the shortest possible time with the help of the autonomous braking sail ADEO from the Munich-based space company HPS and to burn up there without leaving any residue.

The test model is the smallest variant of the ADEO product family with a weight of 800 grams, a packing size of 10x10x10 cm and an unfolded sail area of 3.6 square meters. This ADEO-mission “Show me your Wings” is now the final proof-of-concept in a series that also included a first flight with Rocket Lab’s Electron in 2018 and several parabolic flights from 2019 to 2022.

After the end of this nominal ION mission called “Wild Ride”, ADEO’s decelerator sail now deployed in front of the “eyes” of the integrated camera and immediately initiated descent (“deorbit”). ADEO completes deorbiting many years faster than the “unbraked” satellites currently still in widespread use and clears its operational position in orbit correspondingly earlier for a new satellite, which also prevents uncontrolled pollution of space by collision debris. In addition, ADEO helps extend the satellite’s uptime by allowing the sail to continue its descent even when the satellite is out of power and propulsion.

Incidentally, the time required for deorbiting is accurately measured so that it can be used for any necessary recalibration of the HPS deorbit timer. This is a globally unique computational program for predicting the deorbit times of all possible satellites with and without ADEO braking sails. The theoretically developed mathematical algorithms of the computer are thereby differentially refined by empirically obtained data from the field. The ADEO Deorbit Timer is a valuable service to HPS customers around the world.

Series production of the ADEO versions for all satellite classes with flight altitudes below 900 kilometers is in full swing at HPS in Munich (Germany) and Bucharest (Romania). The first companies, such as NewSpace startup Reflex Aerospace (Berlin and Munich), have already signed letters of intent to equip their entire future satellite fleet with ADEO or have announced that they will do so shortly. Others like BST, Berlin, are integrating ADEO as a standard option in their offerings to customers. An additional surge in demand was triggered in the fall of 2022 by the announcement by international policymakers that satellite deorbit times would be drastically shortened down to just 5 years due to the extreme increase in usage density on all orbits, and that corresponding additional equipment would be required by law.

The extremely sharp picture proof of the successful unfolding now opens a new chapter in the history of HPS, in addition HPS CEO Ernst K. Pfeiffer: “And again, a new chapter of programmatic success could be written, which is only possible through trusted space partnerships: research and development with institutes (like the Fraunhofer Institute in Freiburg and the DLR in Bremen) in the early and development stages, financial support from the Bavarian State and the German Space Agency, a very strong engagement of ESA within its GSTP-program (without this support, including the people behind it, we would still be a long way off!!!), the extremely dedicated staff of my NewSpace team and finally with the people of the system companies, like D-Orbit, who finally, made possible to download from space the image of the unfolded sail, which is important for our next chapter. A great step for HPS, another step for sustainable spaceflight.”

HPS

Point of contact: Daniel Stelzl
ADEO-Contact: adeo@hps-gmbh.com
ADEO – News & Image: https://www.hps-gmbh.com/en/category/2022-en/
Telephone: +49 (89) 4520576-0

Largest joint innovation project in European spaceflight: CEOs of TAS-I, HPS and LSS kick off Phase C/D of the large deployable antenna “LDRS” in the CIMR project

By Jens Janke on 28. February 2023in Common, Companies, Personalities

Since the spectacular win of the €110 million contract in 2020 for the development and construction of an LDRS (Large Deployable Reflector Subsystem) by the SME consortium led by HPS, the project supporting to secure a sovereign European level of innovation has been running like on rails despite all its complexity. The confidence of the end customer ESA and its prime contractor TAS-I for the mission, which has grown steadily over the course of the project’s development, has now found expression on 23.01.2023 in the sealing of the departure into Phase C/D by the signing of the so-called “RIDER” for the construction and testing of a qualification model (EQM) in 2023/2024, followed by no less than two flight models (PFM and FM2).

The supporting technology pillars of the innovation project are, in addition to the main innovation partners LSS (development, construction and test of the large deployable reflector), the HPS subsidiary HPtex (mesh production for the reflector), FHP (CFRP struts for the reflector), INVENT (CFRP tube for the deployable arm) and vH&S (for the deployment control electronics), further 10 companies from seven European countries under the consortium leadership of HPS.

The Environmental Observation Mission under the Copernicus Earth Observation Program of the European Union is an essential element of the European Space Strategy as a highly ambitious project in the field of climate observation and the understanding of effects of climate change.

HPS GmbH

Point of Contact: Dr. Ernst Pfeiffer, CEO
E-Mail: info@hps-gmbh.com
Telephone: +49 (89) 4520576-0

3 – 2 – 1 – Next liftoff for the HPS space sail ADEO-N3 on the satellite carrier ION of the Italian mission provider D-ORBIT

By Jens Janke on 31. January 2023in Common, Politics

Already in the heat of last summer, HPS in Munich was preparing for the third mission of the innovative space brake sail ADEO-N, which unfolds automatically at the end of the mission and drives “its” satellite into the atmosphere to burn up. This technology avoids the formation of new space debris already on the ground and finally makes space missions sustainable.

The ION Satellite Carrier with ADEO-N3 with its sail area of 5sqm has been on board a Falcon 9 since the picture book start on January, 31, 2023 from spaceport Vandenberg, California, now on the way to the target orbit at 270 to 500 km altitude at 53 degrees inclination. Probably by the end of 2023 ADEO-N3 will then, as on previous flights – including one with ION also on Falcon 9 – deploy the braking parachute and remove its ION Satellite Carrier from orbit without leaving any residue many times faster than usual. With the flight heritage accumulated by then, the mature ADEO system heralds a “green” space age. Because at least for European missions or missions from Europe, there will – in all probability – no longer be any more launches without deorbit tech on board: The Green Deal of the EU will then also apply to “clean-green missions” in space.

On the current flight, ADEO-N3 acts as another verification of maturity for HPS. D-Orbit and HPS already captured what will happen high above the earth during a nominal mission as historical testimony on video during the last flight:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7021106640993021952

Video is free for publication

The attached video, recorded directly on site with the on-board camera of the ION satellite of the Italian cooperation partner D-Orbit, provides live proof: with the product of HPS, which is now ready for series production after twelve years of development with great support from ESA, DLR and the Bavarian government, a new era of responsibility in space is beginning. ADEO is manufactured in series by HPS at its sites in Munich and Bucharest, primarily for constellation satellites. ADEO products are available for satellites weighing up to 2,500 kilograms at flight altitudes of up to 800 km. Even higher-flying satellites can be operated with ADEO if they have previously lowered their orbit accordingly using their own propulsion. HPS CEO Ernst K. Pfeiffer: “With ADEO on board, satellites do not become space junk in the first place. And at conditions that are ALWAYS more economical than all other options.”

AFW in Berlin: Faces behind the production of space components

By Jens Janke on 13. November 2022in Common, Companies

How does a raw part become a complex space product? Astrofein provides insights into its own space production.

https://talent.berlin/magazin/berlinjobs/astro-und-feinwerktechnik-adlershof-gmbh

Thank you to Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH & Talent Berlin for supporting us and this great video.

For further information and visual impressions, please visit www.astrofein.com

Point of Contact
Beate Kern, Assistent to the Manging Board
E-Mail: b.kern@astrofein.com
Telephone: +49-30-6392-1030

MdB Dr. Anna Christmann visits Advanced Space Power Equipment GmbH (ASP) in Salem

By Jens Janke on 1. November 2022in Common, Companies, Politics

CEO Reiner Strobel welcomes MdB Dr. Anna Christmann in her function as coordinator for aerospace of the German government when visiting Advanced Space Power Equipment GmbH (ASP) in Salem.

Galileo hardware in ASP cleanroom (Dr. Anna Christmann (center), Reiner Strobel (front right)

During a tour at the company, it was demonstrated why ASP, as the most important German manufacturer of space power electronics, is involved in the European satellite navigation project Galileo as a critical infrastructure. The company not only develops, manufactures and delivers the power supply for the atomic clocks as the technical basis for the world’s most accurate navigation system. From 2025, the entire navigation instrument of the Galileo satellites of the 2nd generation will be operated with the Central Power Supply Unit (CPSU) of the Salem-based high-tech company ASP.

Mr. Volker Mayer-Lay (Member of the German Parliament) as well as Mr. Klaus Hoher (Member of the Baden-Württemberg Parliament) accompanied the visit at ASP, as well as the Wirtschaftsförderung Bodenseekreis. (thi)

Advanced Space Power Equipment GmbH (ASP)
Point of Contact: Thomas Hintze
E-Mail: t.hintze@asp-equipment.de
Telephone: +49 (7553) 5909-233

ILA 2022: ASP presents the SPICA-virtus PPU

By Jens Janke on 24. June 2022in Common, Companies

Berlin, 23.06.2022.

ASP presents the market launch of the new SPICA-virtus Propulsion Power Unit at ILA 2022. In order to provide an answer to the market requirements for a thruster-independent and technologically innovative PPU, we have used a high degree of digitalization and novel GaN components, says CEO Dr. Reiner Strobel: “The digital concept also supports the switching of operating modes such as “Orbit Raising” and “Station Keeping”; in addition, we have automated the entire alignment, commissioning and test process to the greatest possible extent in order to clearly support the demand for cost-effectiveness.” With adaptations of the building block design approach, other thruster types can also be operated.

We look forward to hearing from you and will be happy to provide further information to interested customers via the inquiry form at www.spica-ppu.com.

Author: Jens Janke

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