Dubbed InRange, the demonstration system will feature a space-based launch vehicle telemetry relay, which will “benefit launch vehicle providers across the industry globally”. Basically, it will use geostationary satellites to enable continuous comms between the launch vehicle and the service provider during flight.
The Edinburgh-based rocket company Skyrora will be working with Viasat (which is involved via its acquisition of Inmarsat) and also CGI, the Canadian IT consultancy.
Skyrora
The collaboration will focus on Skyrora’s Skylark L suborbital launch vehicle (right), with connectivity over Viasat’s global ELERA L-band satellite communication networks. The aim is that InRange will enable Skylark to continuously transmit telemetry data during flight, from launch until payload deployment.
The initial stage of the project, say the companies, will include Viasat conducting ground testing of the InRange solution with Skyrora’s launch vehicle system. CGI will also undertake a market study and analysis of ground stations to determine the commercial potential of the solution within the wider launch service provider market.
“This partnership between Skyrora, Viasat and CGI is a testament to the critical relationships and collaboration between space tech companies that ensures safe access to and activity in space,” said Volodymyr Levykin, CEO and Founder of Skyrora.
“With the development of the InRange telemetry system it is much less likely that the challenges around recording and transmitting the readings of launch vehicles will occur. This will save companies millions of pounds, in addition to reducing the amount of space junk, which not only clogs space and disrupts our skyline, but can also fall to Earth and cause both human and infrastructural damage.”
The project is an extension of Skyrora’s existing contract with the ESA through the Boost! Commercial Space Transportation Services and Support Programme. This has granted Skyrora with €3 million to support the development of the company’s orbital XL vehicle, a three-stage, light-class launch vehicle.
“Enabled by the government’s investment of £12 million into the first phase of the European Space Agency’s Boost! programme, this exciting collaboration between UK-based Skyrora, Inmarsat and CGI will drive forward the development of Skyrora and the market’s ability to launch from Scotland,” added Matt Archer, Director of Launch at the UK Space Agency.
“This partnership brings together the wealth of science, technology and engineering expertise that we have in the UK, both to advance British launch services and to move the global space sector towards a more efficient and sustainable use of space.”
See also: Skyrora 3D prints new model of 70kN rocket engine, starts full-duration tests
