INTERNATIONAL SPACE
UK-Australian Space Industry Talk By Dr Chris Flaherty My Space Warfare Analysis Lab
58 | Australia in Space Magazine
T
he 1980s launch sector, largely began to become commercial and grow with a market dominated by large satellites being put into Geostationary Orbit for telecommunications, TV and other applications. Orbiting the Earth directly above the Equator at an altitude of more than 35,000 kilometres covering large geog raphical areas. The satellites often much larger than their Low Earth Orbit counterparts, are typically launched from Spaceports near the Equator to get an extra boost from the Earth’s rotation. Low Earth Orbit satellites usually orbit within 1000 kilometres and do not need to follow a particular path around Earth providing faster communications etc. Can be launched into orbit from appropriate sites in different areas of the world. The focus of this talk will be on the MicroLift Rocket Market. To put this into context, as to how the current industry is structured: Market analysis of the Space launch sector suggest opportunities exist for the UK to be at the forefront of the Global and European Small Satellite launch market[2]. The potential launch market for Small Rockets (payload up to 500 kilograms), will likely see some 3,814 Small Satellites, equivalent to a mass of 146 metric tonnes (95 tons: commercial satellites; 45 tons: civilian; and 6 tons: military), launched till 2031 from the UK[3]. This number may be understated as SpaceX has already launched 1,500 Starlink Satellites since 2019. As of early October, 2020 SpaceX had launched more than 700 satellites into orbit, with a plan to release a total of 12,000 over the next five years, half of them by the end of 2024[4]. The megaconstellation could have a total of 42,000 satellites.
Light-Lift Rocket Payload from 500 to 4,000 kilograms to Low Earth Orbit. Estimated Launch Price: Around $50 M. Micro-Lift Rocket Market Payload up to 500 kilograms to Low Earth Orbit. Estimated Launch Price: Around $10 M. The Micro-Lift Rocket Market covers four basic classes of Satellite: SMALL/ MINISATELLITES
MICROSATELLITES
NANOSATELLITE
CUBESATS/
100-500
10-100
1-10
NANOSATELLITE
kilograms
kilograms
kilograms
Less than 1.33 kilograms (3 pounds)
The UK Space Industry Act, 2018 has a payload limit currently up to 500 kilograms to Low Earth Orbit. The Regulations dictate the Launch Licencing Program, that covers Insurance Level, liability and Range Management Issues.
CubeSats are built to standard dimensions of 1U: Unit (10 x 10 x 10 centimetres). Can be more: 2U, 3U, or 6U in size
The Starlink Satellite weighs 573 pounds: 260 kilograms. Likely representing a total launch mass of 12,037 tons. UK Government has announced several Spaceport sites, that fall into a Northern Cluster and the South-Western UK. Some of the Northern Cluster occupy the Far-Northern Scotland island chain and Northernmost Coastline. Largely dedicated to vertical ground launching Small Rockets, and are sited for Polar Low Earth Orbit. For instance there is Sutherland Spaceport (Scotland). It will host the Orbex Prime: Light-Lift Rocket. Its First-Stage Booster is planned
