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Цитировать (https://twitter.com/pbdes)Peter B. de Selding @pbdes (https://twitter.com/pbdes)
.@Skyrora_Ltd (https://twitter.com/Skyrora_Ltd)
, UK launch startup, test fires upper stage of XL rocket - in Scotland. Earlier firing was in Ukraine. This one used 'ecosene' propellant, based on waste plastic (1,000kg plastic makes 600kg kerosene in 24hrs). Hope for inaugural UK flight in 2022. @spacegovuk (https://twitter.com/spacegovuk)

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ЦитироватьBlack Arrow Launches
On the 50th Anniversary of the first successful British rocket launch, the Black Arrow name is reinvigorated as Black Arrow Space Technologies starts up in business.


Black Arrow Space Technologies  is a new British company developing spaceflight technologies designed  to launch satellites into orbit.  Black Arrow unique offer is their  seaborne launch system – commercial rockets launched from their own  Space Ship!  This will enable Britain to offer a global service  unavailable elsewhere in the world, bypassing many of the issues faced  by land launches.  Initially, the company aims to launch payloads of up  to 500Kg into Polar Low Earth Orbit or 300Kg into Sun Synchronous  Orbit.  This will support a growing niche in the space market, currently  under-served by the international 'access to space' sector.  In time,  the concept will be developed to enable much larger payloads to be  launched to higher altitudes and more trajectories.



Black  Arrow Space Technologies has negotiated an agreement with a major  investor to fully fund the company development activities, up to the  completion of the test launch phase of the project, which is anticipated  to take between two and three years.


Design and development work  will take place in the Oxfordshire area, with engine test stands and the  ship fleet, including the launch vessel and support ships, based in  South Wales.  It is anticipated that around 300 high-skilled jobs will  be created by the time that commercial launches begin.  Initial launches  are planned to take place from the Atlantic Ocean, South West of  Ireland.

ЦитироватьThe U.K. Space Agency Has a Scottish Peat Bog Problem

The plan for a launchpad, worth tens of millions of pounds, may not survive a community backlash and environmental review.

At a traditional cèilidh shindig in the northern Scottish Highlands, my dance partner, a retired Scottish math teacher, suggested I watch the Burt Lancaster movie Local Hero. In between jigs, the kind that require a great deal of spinning, he outlined the plot. An American oil executive journeys to a remote Scottish village to buy out the residents and clear the land for a refinery. Higher and higher dollar figures are thrown around. Plenty of whisky is drunk. The residents must face a difficult decision: Do they roll over and take the money and risk changing the character of their community forever?

By the time I watched Local Hero—I highly recommend it—the 1983 movie had been pitched to me a half-dozen more times by people invested in the eerily parallel political fight happening right now on the A'Mhòine peninsula at the northern tip of Scotland. Instead of an oil refinery, the proposal is for a spaceport that would shoot about a dozen satellites a year into polar orbit 300 miles up. At risk fr om this miniature Cape Canaveral is a foggy stretch of protected peat bog that's home to about 500 people, a community of rare birds, and little else. I'd definitely watch that movie.

During my visit, the peninsula towns of Tongue, Melness, and Talmine were sleepy and shuttered. In warmer months, the natural sights, including the shallow inlets known as kyles, attract a smattering of tourists driving the North Coast 500, a sort of Scottish Pacific Coast Highway. "On a summer's evening, you'll often see half a dozen cars parked on the Kyle of Tongue with people hoping to see an otter," Mark Avery, an environmental campaigner and writer, told me. That sounded like a party compared with the brutally wet and windy winter I encountered. While I was there, the precarious one-lane roads were lonely, and the expanses of soggy green and brown peat surrounding them looked as wild as if  they'd never been discovered. The two main restaurants were closed, and  the closest open hotel was in Lairg, about an hour south. This was  hardly Cape Canaveral. It was more like, well, remote Scotland.

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And yet in 2018 the U.K. Space Agency (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/1724540D:LN) selected A'Mhòine as the ideal location for its latest push to enter the crowded field of commercial spaceflight. The Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/8187529Z:LN)),  an economic and community development agency that represents the  peninsula, won the bid for the spaceport, beating out more than 20 other  areas in the country. UKSA has given £23.5 million ($28.8 million) to Lockheed Martin Space Systems (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/0939624D:US) to build out the site, £5.5 million to Orbex (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/1516802D:LN)  to make the rockets, and £2.5 million to HIE for continued development.  In return, the local development agency got an approval fr om Melness Crofters Estate (http://www.caledonia.org.uk/socialland/melness.htm),  a group of 56 tenants of small farms on the proposed spaceport site.  "We've been involved with HIE along the way—there have been a lot of  negotiations," says Dorothy Pritchard, chair of the Melness group. "It's  a beautiful area. We didn't want that spoiled."                                            
                                                     
         The surrounding communities remain unconvinced that the path  to sun-synchronous spaceflight should run through their backyard. At the  small sundries shop that doubles as Tongue's post office, one woman  shook her head and told me, "It's really divided the community."  Advocates say that by 2024 the spaceport will bring as much as £79  million in economic activity to the rapidly depopulating region, whose  young people have to head far south to Inverness or Edinburgh to find  work. Opponents dismiss the facility as a greedy, shortsighted grab at  land that's vulnerable to climate change and a key bulwark against it.  The proposed spaceport site comprises 800 acres of Europe's largest peat  bog, an ecological system that stores approximately 400 million tons of  carbon beneath its surface and plays host to protected fauna, including golden eagles and black- and red-throated divers.

The  launch-service integration facility, wh ere vehicles will be assembled  and prepared for take-off with their cargoes of satellites.
Source: Norr/HIE

Environmental concerns motivated Alistair Gow and John Williams, two retired science teachers who've each lived in the area for more than a decade, to start the Protect A'Mhòine (http://protectthemhoine.com/index.html)  campaign to fight the UKSA development. "A'Mhòine is an important,  beautiful, and fragile environment," Gow said via email. "HIE are  totally unaware or unable to cope with environmental issues. They  believe that having a green roof on a launch-control building is an  environmental asset."The retired teachers aren't alone. Also opposing construction is the conservation company Wildland Ltd. (https://wildland.org/), controlled by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen (https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/id/17092635) and his wife, Anne. The Povlsens, whose fortune comes from clothing, including the Bestseller (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/4399937Z:NO), ASOS (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/ASC:LN), and Zalando (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/ZAL:GR) brands, are the largest private landowners in Scotland, with holdings of 220,000 acres, primarily in the Highlands.
Another Povlsen company holds a hunting lease on a section of the  proposed spaceport site, according to the regional newspaper, the Press and Journal.  "The proposed site lies at the heart of an area of immense natural  beauty and environmental value," a Wildland spokesperson wrote in an  email. "By focusing our resources on new developments which build on our  natural capital, such as scientific research, nature-based tourism, and  carbon sequestration, we can work towards a diversified economic  proposition founded on something truly unique. This proposal poses a  serious threat to that path of economic growth."
                                                    
         The conflict intensified last month, when HIE  published its first major planning application for the spaceport, which  outlined in greater detail its plans to protect the peninsula's  character. "The visual impact is fairly minimal," says David Oxley,  director of business growth at HIE. "It blends very well into the  environment around it." An accompanying environmental impact report  concludes that the spaceport could significantly hurt air quality,  protected bird populations, and the habitats of otters and water voles.  "We've considered very carefully the importance of the environment in  everything we're doing," Oxley says, noting that Orbex, the rocketry contractor, intends to recover and reuse parts from its launched craft.

The plan for the launch-operations control center is to complement the natural environment.
Source: Norr/HIE

Community  comments on the planning application closed on March 15; the Highland  Council, a regional governing body, will consider them and provide the  final approval or rejection of the spaceport. All told, 428 of 549  public comments opposed the construction. Supporters are betting the  promised jobs (61 related to the spaceport, and more than 250 for the  region) will help safeguard the area more than being left alone would. "We  need jobs that are going to retain some young people here," says  Pritchard, a retired teacher and lifelong resident. "I've seen the  decline over the last 60 or 50 years." In nearby Durness, the primary  school wh ere she helped teach 30 kids now enrolls just six. David  Macleod, the current chair of the community council, likewise says job  needs are urgent, though he maintains his stance on the project is still  neutral. "I lived away for a long time," says Macleod, who also was  raised in the area. "Most people do have to leave home to work." Another  local woman I spoke with, who asked not to be named, put it more  bluntly. The most pressing need was employment. The eagles would have to  nest someplace else.  
                                 
At least for now, the eagles can stay. The Highland Council's  decision isn't expected before April, and the heated opposition may get  what it wants by default. Lead contractor Lockheed Martin is reportedly backing a different Scottish site for space development.I hate to spoil it for you, but Local Hero  ends with a win for the community, when an older man named Ben, living  in a rundown shack on the beach, refuses to sell his land. The oil  company offers him bigger plots on more exotic shorelines—Hawaii,  Australia, anyplace but his village—but Ben says he doesn't need a new  beach. He likes the one he's got.

             BOTTOM LINE -              
The regional government will  have to weigh intense local opposition, carbon release, and possible  habitat loss in making a final decision about the spaceport proposal.

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ЦитироватьEnvironmental concerns voiced over spaceport plan
By Mike Merritt

DANISH billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen has blasted Britain's first vertical launch spaceport planned for a remote part of Scotland - warning that the project could be grounded.
His company Wildland Ltd issued its final formal objection to the £17.3m scheme, criticising government agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for submitting what it described as a "deeply damaging" application.
It also called for an extension for public comments to be allowed, Scottish ministers to intervene and warned of a battle ahead in the Land Court.
Last month Wildland issued a holding objection to The Highland Council.
At the deadline for comments, it firmed up its protest having commissioned several leading experts - such as Ian Kelly, a chartered private planning consultant with over 43 years' planning experience including in managing and assessing major civil and MOD engineering, nuclear and defence projects.
Scotland's largest private landowner, Mr Povlsen and his wife Anne - who last week celebrated the birth of twin girls having lost three children in the Sri Lankan bombings in early 2019. They own estates in the area of the proposed launch site at Melness in Sutherland.
"Wildland Limited's view is that this application contains significant errors of omission and is incomplete," the objection reads. "We believe that the deadline for initial comments should be extended to allow fuller consideration of these plans.
"Economic benefit is predicated on multiple 'Launch Service' providers. The application specifies a facility for one. If economic measure is used to justify long term adverse environmental impact, then the application can be no measure of that. The application contains contradictory information to this effect.
"We question the probity of HIE's role as the applicant, given that this application must surely land on the desk of Scottish Ministers for review. How can the Scottish Government act as judge and jury on such a contentious matter?
"The application does not protect and enhance the natural heritage or landscape. Again, we simply do not have a clear picture of the full impact this project will have on the precious habitat surrounding the site, as well as the wider land and sea scape under the flight path."
"The conclusion of the independent planning consultant is that the application stands contrary to all relevant policies of the Highland Wide Local Development Plan, and therefore the presumption in law is that the application should be refused."
Wildland CEO Tim Kirkwood said: "Quite apart from the significant technical concerns raised in our objection, we fundamentally believe this development is poorly conceived and deeply damaging. The actual environmental damage this will cause to a potential world heritage site, the seas around it, and the islands beyond it, is still unknown.
"We simply do not have all the facts. For example, should consent be granted in the face of illegal disturbance of category one protected birds in a yet-to-be legislated 2,500 acre exclusion zone? This is serious stuff."
Raising serious concerns about the public expense of this project, Mr Kirkwood added: "We question HIE's involvement when there has been no demonstration of market failure. Our broader fear....is that if the wrong location is backed then the market will move out of Scotland. Period. We can't let that happen.
"We are also deeply concerned that so much public money has been funnelled into a project that is yet to demonstrate any private sector interest, unlike its counterpart in Shetland which is proving much more palatable to established players in the industry.
"Ultimately, we anticipate a long and protracted battle in the Land Court as the complicated crofting, fairness and compensation elements of this development are considered - further burdening the public purse and scaring off investment in the industry.
"We are certain that there is broad scope of legal challenge and ministerial review, should planning approval be granted. However, we must ask; with so much public money at risk and missing information, how can the Scottish Government fairly review an application from their own agency?
"We will continue to follow these plans closely."
The scheme has attracted over 500 responses. In total more than 400 people have objected with over 110 in favour - but the responses have seen neighbour pitted against neighbour and landowner against landowner. Many of the objections have come from outwith the area.
Among the protesters are TV wildlife presenter Chris Packham who said the project was not worth the "destruction" of part of the Flow Country's peat bog.
Also objecting is Scotland's leading young environmentalist Finlay Pringle, 12, from Ullapool in Wester Ross - who has been hailed by Mr Packham and campaigner Greta Thunberg.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has also objected, subject to a raft of conditions not being included in any permission.
However nearby Altnaharra Estate has backed the scheme - saying the benefits outweigh any negatives - and warned of the area being controlled by Wildland.
"Melness and Tongue are especially vulnerable at present due to its expanding control by one major landholding and owner now owning most of the surrounding land and is driving its management as directed by one individual, which in our view is limiting and disturbing the existing local population and its views on the development, and therefore this external proposal is a welcome change in an otherwise limited options area," wrote Peter Bakker on behalf of the estate.
The spaceport is earmarked on the Moine Peninsula. Melness Crofters Estate (MCE), who own the earmarked site, and local community councils have backed the scheme.
"We wanted to ensure that the environment was protected and safety ensured," wrote Dorothy Pritchard, chairperson of MCE.
"There is a balance to be struck between environmental issues versus employment; MCE negotiated hard to ensure that our land is protected now and in the future."
MCE, which will receive income from the spaceport, says funding will go back into the "whole community" and it intended to set-up a charitable fund to help local projects.

It said protesters who had run a "sustained, vociferous campaign" had "misrepresented" the spaceport and the intentions of MCE, whose members had been subject to abuse.
In time, up to 12 launches a year could be made from Sutherland, carrying small, commercial satellites that will typically be used for Earth observation.
If the application is approved, construction on Europe's first vertical launch site could begin later this year, with launches starting as early as 2022.

Цитата: undefinedLockheed Martin Selects ABL Space Systems Rocket to Power First UK Vertical Satellite Launch

HARWELL, Oxford, Feb. 8, 2021 – Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has contracted ABL Space Systems, of El Segundo, California, a developer of low-cost launch vehicles and launch systems for the small satellite industry, to supply a rocket and associated launch services for the company's first UK vertical satellite launch.

The project known as UK Pathfinder Launch is planned to be the first ever vertical small satellite launch from UK soil, from Scotland in 2022. It will also be the first UK commercial launch for U.S.-based ABL Space Systems' new RS1 rocket.

Nik Smith, Regional Director, Lockheed Martin Space, said: "We are absolutely committed to the success of this programme and the world class capability that ABL Space Systems brings will allow us to build on our long-standing partnership with the UK and strengthen the growth of the UK space sector, aligned to the UK Government's prosperity and industrial strategy."

ABL Space Systems' flexible, integrated GSO launch system, and RS1 rocket, allows for a rapid and cost-effective deployment with outstanding launch performance.

"ABL Space Systems is proud to partner with Lockheed Martin on the UK Pathfinder Launch Program," said Harry O'Hanley, co-Founder and CEO of ABL Space Systems. "Our team was founded to deliver new launch capabilities, on-demand. We're thrilled at the opportunity bring our system to Shetland's launch site and execute this ground-breaking mission with our partners."

Lockheed Martin's UK Pathfinder Launch supports the UK Space Agency's commercial spaceflight programme – Launch UK. In October, the UK Space Agency confirmed Lockheed Martin's plans to move its programme to the Shetland Space Centre and in January, planning proposals were submitted for the space launch facility in Unst.

Ian Annett, Deputy CEO, UK Space Agency said: "We want the UK to be the first in Europe to launch small satellites into orbit, attracting innovative businesses from all over the world, accelerating the development of new technologies and creating hundreds of high-skilled jobs across the whole of the UK. Lockheed Martin's selection of ABL Space Systems for their UK Pathfinder launch brings us one step closer to realising this ambition – putting the UK firmly on the map as Europe's leading small satellite launch destination.

"In this challenging time, it's more important than ever that we support technologies that will help create jobs and economic growth, enabling people and businesses across the country to benefit from the commercial opportunities offered by the UK's growing space sector and the many firms throughout its supply chain."

The addition of ABL Space Systems as a partner completes Lockheed Martin's UK Pathfinder Launch programme team. On launch day, ABL Space Systems' RS1 rocket will lift off from Shetland Space Centre, in Unst, Shetland, the UK's most northerly island. Once in orbit, the rocket will release a small launch orbital manoeuvring vehicle, an agile platform built by MOOG, in Reading, UK, which can carry and deploy up to six 6U CubeSats, optimising orbital placement and timing for each small satellite's respective missions.

To demonstrate the full value of this new UK space transportation capability, two of the CubeSats deployed will be Lockheed Martin's own technology demonstration spacecraft.

In 2019, ABL Space Systems announced that it had received a strategic investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures to advance the launch provider's development and test programme.

About ABL Space Systems
ABL Space Systems was founded in 2017 to develop low-cost launch vehicles and launch systems for the small satellite industry. ABL is headquartered in El Segundo, California, U.S. To learn more, visit: www.ablspacesystems.com

About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 114,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Please follow @LMNews on Twitter for the latest announcements and news across the corporation.

ЦитироватьNew space: Стартап ABL Space, основанный сотрудником SpaceX, планирует запустить свою первую ракету весной этого года

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Ракетостроительная компания ABL Space, основанная ветеранами SpaceX и Morgan Stanley, находится на последнем этапе подготовки к своему первому запуску с космодрома Ванденберг: «Мы работаем над заключительными этапами планирования запуска с базы Ванденберг. Старт планируется не раньше марта, но не позднее июня», - сказал CNBC президент и финансовый директор ABL Дэн Пьемонт (Dan Piemont).
ABL планирует выйти на рынок, где её пусковые услуги будут промежуточным вариантом между предложениями от SpaceX и Rocket Lab. На сегодняшний день ABL привлекла $49 млн в качестве финансирования и объявила, что выиграла контракты Исследовательской лаборатории ВВС на сумму $44,5 млн: «Мы считаем, что эта программа полностью профинансирует как минимум 8 наших запусков», - сказал Пьемонт.
Исполнительный директор ABL Гарри О'Хэнли (Harry O'Hanley) сказал, что в последние несколько месяцев компания сосредоточила свои усилия на завершении испытаний 2-й ступени своей ракеты RS1 на базе ВВС Эдвардс, которые включали в себя тестирование двигателя E2 собственной разработки. Одним из ключевых этапов испытаний теперь значится проведение полномасштабного огневого испытания ступени.
О'Хэнли и Пьемонт познакомились, будучи студентами Массачусетского технологического института (MIT), О'Хэнли успел поработать в SpaceX почти шесть лет. Пьемонт начал свою карьеру в финансовой группе Morgan Stanley. В середине 2017 года О'Хэнли начал рассказывать Пьемонту об идеях создания новой ракетной компании, и в итоге они решили основать компанию ABL в августе 2017 года.

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О ракете RS1

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Ракета компании ABL имеет высоту 27 м и предназначена для вывода на низкую околоземную орбиту до 1350 кг полезного груза по цене $12 млн за запуск. Таким образом, RS1 по стоимости запуска находится между Electron от Rocket Lab, чей запуск оценивается в $7 млн, и Falcon 9 от SpaceX с ценой запуска ~$50 млн. Она также призвана конкурировать с ракетами от Virgin Orbit, Relativity Space и Firefly Aerospace.
RS1 изготовлена из алюминиевого сплава, а её двигатель E2 создаётся методом 3D-печати из трёх частей. В настоящее время ABL насчитывает 105 сотрудников, компания имеет площади около 8000 м² в Эль-Сегундо (округ Лос-Анджелес), а также в испытательных центрах на базе ВВС Эдвардс и в космопорте Америка в Нью-Мексико: «Мы можем строить ракету-носитель примерно каждые 30 дней. Это около восьми или девяти ракет в год», - сказал Пьемонт.

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Выход на орбиту

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SpaceX и Rocket Lab - две частные компании, которые регулярно запускают миссии на орбиту, они потратили примерно $100 млн на достижение орбиты, даже компания Astra, которая едва смогла выйти на орбиту после своего первого запуска в декабре прошедшего года, имела около $100 млн финансирования.
Но ABL считает, что выйдет на орбиту менее чем за четыре года с момента основания и за намного меньшие деньги: «Наши общие расходы на испытания составили $25 млн, что даёт нам большую уверенность в том, что мы выйдем на орбиту за менее чем $100 млн», - сказал Пьемонт.
Помимо самой ракеты, ABL создала развёртываемую наземную систему запуска (GS0). По сути, это базовые компоненты стартовой установки - монтажная, заправочная, энергетическая инфраструктура, а также связь, и всё это упаковано в несколько транспортных контейнеров. «Такая система даёт нам огромные преимущества с точки зрения инфраструктуры. Всё, что нам нужно, это бетонная площадка, остальное мы можем установить сами», - сказал Пьемонт.
ABL рассматривают эту систему, как возможность для быстрого запуска, в котором особенно заинтересованы военные. У компании уже есть контракт с Космическими силами США, и она хочет провести демонстрацию для военных в конце этого года.

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Хотя ABL имеет важные контракты от Пентагона, клиенты компании на 60% - частники. ABL уже подписали контракт на запуск двух спутников для компании L2 Aerospace во время первого запуска ракеты RS1. Спутники будут предназначаться для тестирования новых технологий, в частности для демонстрации новой архитектуры связи, кибербезопасности, а также для учебных целей.
Lockheed Martin также выбрала ABL для запуска своих кубсатов с космодрома в Великобритании в 2022 году. Планируется, что это будет первый в истории Великобритании космический запуск спутников с британской земли (с сухопутной стартовой площадки). Запуск планируется осуществить в рамках проекта UK Pathfinder Launch коммерческой программы Космического агентства Великобритании.
Ракета стартует с самого северного острова Великобритании - космодрома расположенного на Шетландских островах - Шетландского космического центра в Унсте, Шотландия. Оказавшись на орбите, будет развёрнута спутниковая платформа, которая в свою очередь может развернуть до шести 6U-кубсатов. Два кубсата в этом запуске будут демонстрационными аппаратами компании Lockheed Martin...

Цитата: Salo от 09.02.2021 18:08:13Shetland Space Centre

ЦитироватьShetland Space Centre is changing its name to SaxaVord Spaceport as it rebrands to position itself at the heart of the new space economy in Europe.

ЦитироватьVirgin Orbit and Arqit Expand Launch Agreements

Virgin Orbit and Arqit Quantum announce an extension to their collaboration that will accelerate space-based encryption services to private, defense, and intelligence customers globally.

    Arqit has contracted exclusively with Virgin Orbit for Arqit's launch needs for up to 5 launches from Spaceport Cornwall beginning in 2023.
    Virgin Orbit has acquired a quantum cloud encryption license from Arqit to provide encryption protection for its launch and space solutions businesses.
    The two companies have previously announced a $5 million investment from Virgin Orbit into Arqit's SPAC.

December 22, 2021 08:05 AM Eastern Standard Time

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Virgin Orbit, the responsive launch and space solutions company that has announced a planned business combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II ("NextGen") (NASDAQ: NGCA), has signed a new launch contract covering two dedicated launches for Arqit Quantum, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQQ), a global leader in quantum encryption technology, plus additional commitments. The two Arqit satellites delivered to Earth orbit by Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne air-launched system will be the core component of Arqit's Platform-as-a-Service, delivering the root source of randomness to all Arqit data centres using Arqit's ground breaking Quantum protocol ARQ19.

    "I am delighted that another prestigious global brand has decided to use QuantumCloudTM to keep their customers' assets safe"
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Arqit and Virgin Orbit are collaborating on responsive space initiatives serving the nations of the Five Eyes (FVEY) international intelligence alliance, comprising of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Arqit announced in September at the G7 conference the creation of a program called "Federated Quantum System." This is a private instance of Arqit's QuantumCloudTM technology that allied defense departments requiring sovereign control over mission critical encryption can purchase from Arqit. These long-term, high-value subscription contracts involve Arqit's supply of ring-fenced dedicated systems. Arqit has committed to launch such additional customer funded systems exclusively with Virgin Orbit, and that contract allows for up to five launches that will be realized as anticipated government contracts move forward to utilize Arqit's services.

The parties are also pleased to announce that the QuantumCloudTM Software License signed between the companies in parallel to the launch services agreement will also enable Virgin Orbit to use Arqit's world-leading platform to provide market-leading encryption to secure Virgin Orbit's global infrastructure. Thus Virgin Orbit becomes the world's first quantum safe launch services provider.

Dan Hart, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Orbit commented: "I am delighted to advance such a comprehensive collaboration with Arqit. Supporting Arqit's long term subscription agreements with its defense department customers is important and rewarding business for us. Following a year of increased awareness of cyber risks to businesses and governments, we're excited for the opportunity to provide our customers with the promise that Arqit's unique QuantumCloudTM system can keep their mission safe."

"I am delighted that another prestigious global brand has decided to use QuantumCloudTM to keep their customers' assets safe," said David Williams, Founder of Arqit. It is also great to be able to rely in Virgin Orbit's responsive launch capability to support the private instance contracts that we are selling to our government and defense customers. This sales campaign has proceeded well in the last few months. The revenues from these contracts are expected to provide strong underpinning to our profitability whilst the global Platform-as-a-Service rolls out more generally. So it is critical that these systems are deployed when we need them, and Virgin Orbit can give that to us."

ЦитироватьЛОНДОН, 11 мая. /ТАСС/. Великобритания впервые в истории проведет летом запуск спутников со своей территории. Об этом говорится в распространенном во вторник заявлении Минобороны Соединенного Королевства.
Речь идет о двух микроспутниках, которые используются для мониторинга за различными объектами посредством радиосигналов и датчиков изображения. Спутники были разработаны консорциумом Airbus Defense and Space и изготовлены английской компанией In-Space Missions Ltd в рамках сотрудничества военного ведомства Великобритании с международными партнерами, включая Национальное управление военно-космической разведки США.
Сам запуск в ходе миссии Prometheus-2 будет осуществлен с территории аэропорта Ньюки на юго-западе Англии. Спутники будут выведены на околоземную орбиту с помощью ракеты-носителя LauncherOne американской компании Virgin Orbit. Сама ракета запускается с модифицированного самолета Boeing 747, получившего название "Cosmic Girl"...

Цитата: undefinedStraight Up was Virgin Orbit's second mission of the year after a launch in a January. The next launch, expected no sooner than September, will be the company's first launch from the United Kingdom, flying out of Spaceport Cornwall. That launch is slated to be the first orbital launch by any vehicle from Great Britain.
"The success of the Straight Up mission is another exciting milestone on our way to seeing the first satellite launch from U.K. soil," said Matthew Archer, director of commercial spaceflight at the U.K. Space Agency, in a statement after observing the launch from Mojave. "We are working closely with Virgin Orbit and it was a privilege to be alongside our partners to witness another successful launch for the team."

Цитата: undefinedJeff Foust @jeff_foust
A couple other notes from the launch session at #smallsat:

- Moog says its SL-OMV tug is on track for launch in 1st quarter of 2023 on ABL's RS1 from SaxaVord on the UK Pathfinder launch.

ЦитироватьStatus
Prometheus 2 & Others
Launch Time
NET October, 2022
Rocket
LauncherOne

ЦитироватьPrometheus 2 & Others
Launch Time
NET Oct 29, 2022
...
Rocket
LauncherOne
...
Location
Spaceport Cornwall, Newquay Airport in Cornwall, United Kingdom

Цитироватьhttps://twitter.com/BBCAmos/status/1579109436039524353
Jonathan Amos  @BBCAmos
.@VirginOrbit's first mission from UK 🇬🇧 soil will be known as "Start Me Up". Dust off that Stones track for accompanying music. Preparations will pick up apace this week for what looks to be a November flight.

ЦитироватьЛОНДОН, 13 октября. /ТАСС/. Первый запуск ракеты-носителя Skylark L британского производителя космической техники Skyrora с полигона на полуострове Лаунганес в Исландии закончился в четверг падением аппарата в море. Об этом сообщает вещательная корпорация Би-би-си.
Запуск Skylark L осуществлялся в целях тестирования систем ракеты и пусковых процедур. Изначально планировалось поднять 11-метровый аппарат на высоту более чем 100 км над уровнем моря, однако из-за технической проблемы он упал в воду примерно в 500 м от пусковой площадки почти сразу после старта, поясняет Би-би-си.
Как сообщают представители компании, "это не нарушило никаких планов". Skyrora намерена запустить в 2023 году полноценную 23-метровую ракету-носитель Skyrora XL с космодрома Саксаворд, который в настоящее время сооружается на Шетландских островах у берегов Шотландии.
"Хотя этот запуск прошел не совсем так, как мы ожидали, это был ценный опыт", - резюмировал основатель и генеральный директор Skyrora Владимир Левыкин.

Skylark L - "зондирующая ракета" (ракетный зонд), работающая на керосине и перекиси водорода. Она предназначена для того, чтобы поднимать научные грузы на достаточную высоту на несколько минут для проведения экспериментов в условиях невесомости. Ракета не предназначена для достаточно высокого и быстрого подъема, поэтому ее называют суборбитальной.

ЦитироватьЛОНДОН, 10 января. /ТАСС/. Первый в истории запуск космических спутников с территории Великобритании завершился неудачно после того, как ракета-носитель воздушного запуска LauncherOne американской компании Virgin Orbit не смогла вывести аппараты на орбиту. Об этом говорится в распространенном в понедельник вечером сообщении Virgin Orbit.
"Похоже, мы столкнулись с аномалией, которая помешала нам достигнуть орбиты. Мы оцениваем информацию", - сказано в заявлении компании в Twitter. Virgin Orbit добавила, что удалила ранее размещенную публикацию об успешном пуске LauncherOne.
Модифицированный самолет Boeing-747 с закрепленной под левым крылом двухступенчатой ракетой-носителем LauncherOne в понедельник вечером поднялся в воздух с территории аэропорта Ньюки на юго-западе Англии для вывода девяти спутников на околоземную орбиту. Спустя чуть более часа после взлета в намеченной точке над Атлантическом океаном недалеко от побережья ирландских графств Корк и Керри на высоте 10,5 км был выпущена ракета LauncherOne.
Согласно трансляции в эфире британского телеканала Sky News (https://news.sky.com/), двигатель первой ступени ракеты включился спустя четыре секунды после сброса и работал положенные три минуты перед тем, как первая ступень отделилась. Впоследствии должна была отсоединиться и вторая ступень ракеты, которая поднимает полезную нагрузку до околоземной орбиты (примерно 550 км), однако этого не произошло. Точные причины неудачного пуска пока не разглашались. Сам Boeing уже успел вернуться в Ньюки, где по-прежнему находились несколько тысяч жителей Великобритании, которые специально приехали в графство Корнуолл, чтобы запечатлеть исторический момент для Соединенного Королевства.