Weekly GEOINT Community News

Lockheed Martin to Build 10 Small Satellite Mesh Network in Two Years, L3Harris Technologies Awarded International Sonar System Program, Northrop Grumman Successfully Tests NASA’s Space Launch System Booster for Artemis Missions, and More

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Lockheed Martin to Build 10 Small Satellite Mesh Network in Two Years

The Space Development Agency awarded a Tranche 0 contract of the Space Transport Layer to Lockheed Martin to demonstrate a mesh network of 10 small satellites that links terrestrial warfighting domains to space sensors—all launching in just two years. The $187.5-million contract for Transport Layer’s Tranche 0 is an initial test and demonstration phase, with two prime contractors building a total of 20 satellites. The first step toward building an interoperable, connected secure mesh network, it will help enable Joint All-Domain Operations, allowing warfighters to stay ahead of emerging threats. By linking nodes together, seamless connectivity is created between all domains, much like today’s smartphones.

L3Harris Technologies Awarded International Sonar System Program

L3Harris Technologies has been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to deliver two Low-Frequency Active Towed Sonar (LFATS) systems to a NATO member. The LFATS system is used on ships to detect, track, and engage all types of submarines. L3Harris specifically designed the system to perform at a lower operating frequency against modern diesel-electric submarine threats. The United States Department of Defense recently awarded this 26-month delivery order under VSE Corporation’s Foreign Military Sales contract with the Naval Sea Systems Command International Fleet Support Program Office.

Northrop Grumman Successfully Tests NASA’s Space Launch System Booster for Artemis Missions

NASA and Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster (FSB-1), in Promontory, Utah. During the test, the 154-foot-long, five-segment rocket motor fired for just over two minutes, producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust. Two SLS boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the initial thrust for an SLS launch. The company developed this motor based on the flight-proven design of the space shuttle boosters with enhanced technologies and updated materials to support NASA’s most powerful rocket to date. The new five-segment booster configuration provides 20 percent greater average thrust than the shuttle boosters, aiding in the SLS rocket’s ability to deliver greater mass and volume by generating greater departure energy than any existing launch vehicle.

Space Flight Laboratory Announces Launch of Atmospheric Monitoring and Earth Observation Microsatellites

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announced the successful launch and deployment of the GHGSat-C1 greenhouse gas monitoring microsatellite and the Slovenian NEMO-HD Earth observation microsatellite. SFL developed the small satellites at its facility in Toronto, Canada. Both satellites were in contact with ground control within hours of their launch on Sept. 2, 2020, aboard an Arianespace Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, South America. The satellites are healthy and operating as planned. GHGSat Inc. awarded SFL the development contract for GHGSat-C1 (“Iris”) after building the pathfinding GHGSat-D (“Claire”) microsatellite launched in 2016. Using high-precision target tracking capabilities developed by SFL, Claire successfully demonstrated that sources of methane and other gas emissions could be detected and measured from space. SFL is currently developing another microsatellite, GHGSat-C2, for the company.

Collins Aerospace Eliminates the Need for Touching Airport Kiosks with New Mobile Phone Check-In and Baggage Drop Offering

Collins Aerospace Systems, a Raytheon Technologies business, is eliminating the need to physically touch kiosk screens during airport check-in and baggage drops. The company’s new Kiosk Connect solution provides the first full, end-to-end, contactless airport journey—a high demand as passengers return to travel. By simply scanning a QR code with their mobile device, passengers can quickly connect to a common-use kiosk using either the airport’s public Wi-Fi or the kiosk’s built-in Wi-Fi, with no requirement to download any apps. From there, users complete the check-in process on their phones and produce boarding passes and bag tags without ever touching the kiosk screen.

Peer Intel

Joe Francica, a well-known executive in geospatial technology and location intelligence, is joining Korem as the Senior Director of Geospatial Strategy. He is recognized as an influential technologist and has been a leading advocate of location intelligence and geospatial technology for over 35 years.

 

Featured Image: NASA and Northrop Grumman successfully conducted a full-scale static fire test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster (FSB-1), in Promontory, Utah, on Sep. 2. During the test, the 154-foot-long, five-segment rocket motor fired for just over two minutes, producing 3.6 million pounds of thrust. Two SLS boosters will provide more than 75 percent of the initial thrust for an SLS launch for Artemis missions. | Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman

Weekly GEOINT Community News

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Weekly GEOINT Community News

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