11 Space Missions That The World Unfamiliar With
What names come to your mind when it comes to space research? NASA, SpaceX, European Space Agency? This is perfectly normal, because these institutions and companies are pioneers in the field of space and are signing many innovations. However, one must not forget that space is infinite. Companies and agencies from countries all over the world also have future plans, ideas and visions about space. It was announced in 2018 that the value of the global space economy was approximately $ 425 billion. This figure has increased since then. Thanks to companies that offer easier and cheaper flights to space, the number of artificial satellites in low orbit Earth increases every week. Firms and companies now see space as an industry that cannot be ignored. It is not possible to know everything that is going on in this area in different parts of the world, but we aimed to bring 11 least known space missions in this issue. These tasks, each individually exciting, will mark space research in the next 10 years.
1) PERIGEE AEROSPACE TO TEST BLUE WHALE 1 SPACE TOOL
This South Korean company is developing its own small space rocket. It is planned to make its first space travel in July 2020. The two-stage rocket they developed is called Blue Whale 1. When it starts to work, will be able to carry a cargo of 50 kilograms to synchronous orbit. According to Perigee Aerospace, Blue Whale 1 will be the smallest space rocket in the world with a height of 8.5 meters. Let’s remember that the height of the two-stage Atlas V rocket, which is famous in the USA, is 58 meters. This little rocket is actually quite powerful; it can carry light cargo to low-altitude orbital orbits. This orbit is ideal for weather, remote sensing and viewing satellites.
2) INTERNET OF THINGS
The US-based SpaceX company started to build the Starlink satellite network. This network, which consists of a series of satellites placed in low Earth orbit, aims to bring fast internet access to every point of the world. The company’s use of its rockets to launch these satellites into space is aan advantage, and being a billionaire entrepreneur behind the project is another advantage! There are other private companies that aim to carry out a similar initiative. One of them, Sky and Space Global, is trying to collect investments for its project, which is called the Internet of Things. Sky and Space Global, an Australian company with offices in the UK, Poland and Israel, plans to place 200 CubeSat satellites in low Earth orbit. It will establish a low data rate network with satellites. In the short term, the goal is to find the $ 10.8 million needed to orbit eight satellites. The first satellites, nicknamed “pearls”, will be launched into space at the end of 2020 if they can afford a budget. These satellites will offer high quality data and voice communication. Autonomous anti-collision software will be installed on them.
3) NEW GENERATION HEAVY LOAD LAUNCER: VULCAN CENTAUR
Now there is a new opponent for DELTA IV and Atlas V. United Launch Alliance, the operator of these two rockets, is now working on a two-stage heavy load rocket. This rocket will increase the possibilities of the USA and respond to national security targeted needs. The United Launch Alliance aims to perform safer and cheaper launch operations by taking the Delta IV and Atlas V rocket designs that have been very successful and developing them with new technologies. One of the new features added to Vulcan Centaur is that two Blue Origin engines are used in the first stage. Surrounded by six propellant rockets, BE-4 engines will form the carrier rocket of next generation space travel. In addition, an Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES) phase is planned to be added to the rocket. Thanks to this stage, working time in space will last for weeks, not hours.
4) SPECTRUM OF ISAR AEROSPACE
German start-up firm Isar Aerospace is working on a two-stage rocket that will place satellite groups in Earth orbit. The rocket, called Spectrum, can take 1,000 kilograms of load to low Earth orbit and progress with the speed of light. Although the company was founded in 2018, the first trip of the Spectrum rocket will be made in 2021. This efficiency is achieved thanks to a $ 17 million support from Airbus Ventures and other investors behind the company. When the spectrum rocket is finished, it will be 27 meters tall. In terms of engine configuration, SpaceX is thought to be similar to Falcon 9. In the first phase of Spectrum, there will be nine Aquila SL engines. In the second cryogenic stage, there will be a single Aquila VAC (vacuum) engine. Daniel Metzler, director of Isar Aerospace, says they aim to produce the first stage of the rocket as reusable in the future. Currently, however, studies are focused on a single-use design. The company hopes to do 15 launches a year.
5) VIRGIN ORBIT SATELLITE CARRIER
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic company is known for its announcements about space tourism. This is not a surprise, because their announcements have been watched with interest for a long time. However, his sister company Virgin Orbit is taking firm steps towards making a name as a satellite sending company. Instead of classic, vertical, two-stage rockets such as Spectrum and H3, it is considering using its horizontal and two-stage rocket, called LauncherOne. LauncherOne will start its space journey on the back of a modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft called Cosmic Girl. After launching, Cosmic Girl will raise LauncherOne to a height of 11,000 meters. Here, the rocket will leave the aircraft and fire its engines and take its 300 to 500 kilograms of cargo into low Earth orbit. The Virgin Orbit team plans to add a third stage to the rocket and thus use it for interplanetary missions. This third stage can take a 50 kilogram load to Mars, a 70 kilogram load to Venus, and a 100 kilogram load to the Moon. If everything goes well and the schedule is followed during production, the first flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne will take place in 2020.
6) THE COMBINED POWER OF 6 CUBESATS!
Sending CubeSat and nano satellites to space costs less than ever before. Sending a CubeSat costs $ 40000. Much lower than the cost of sending a large satellite. The satellite measures 10x10x10 (width, height, depth) in centimeters. It already gets its name from this “cube” concept. They make global communication and navigation better. In addition, they also allow us to monitor climate changes and global disasters.
7) KUIPER PROJECT AIMS OF GLOBAL INTERNET CONNECTION
Amazon aims to create a mega satellite network in low Earth orbit. This satellite network will provide internet connectivity to tens of millions of people around the world. In this daring project called the Kuiper Project, a total of 3,236 satellites are planned to be installed in three different orbits at a height of 590, 610 and 630 kilometers, respectively. The company’s AWS Ground Station unit will consist of 12 centers scattered around the world. These centers are vital for communication from place to place. Since the mega satellite network is interrupted by thousands of other satellites in orbit, some of its access will be able to connect the low latency high-speed broadband internet only to people between latitudes 56 degrees north and south 56 degrees. There is no date set for the project, but it is known to be carried out in the long run.
8) PORTUGAL’S SECURITY SATELLITES
Portugal’s newly established space agency is trying to decide what its initial plans and goals will be. Building your own space port is one of these plans. Because the country is both on the shore of the Atlantic ocean and very close to the equator. The space agency also aims to monitor the sea traffic in the Atlantic ocean in real time, by establishing a satellite network in space. The goal of the satellite network will not be to increase internet access, but to better protect the borders of the seashore countries. Thanks to this network, Portugal will better deal with crimes in the seas, namely illegal fishing, piracy and marine pollution. There is no specific planning yet when to implement this satellite security network, but the space agency has announced that it wants to have a say on the Atlantic ocean.
9) UAE ASTRONOT FLEET
The interest of the United Arab Emirates in space is increasing day by day. The country launched its own space agency in 2014. In addition they announced that Virgin Galactic is open to operations and plans its own duties to go to space. We recently met the first UAE astronaut. Hazza Al Mansouri visited the International Space Station in September 2019. The country is now trying to create its own astronaut team. They receive astronaut training to a certain number of candidates from among thousands of applications. The UAE space agency announced its astronaut team plans in 2017 and said the number of applicants was more than 4,000. Applications range from 17 to 67 years old. If the UAE can show a sustainable presence in space, it is thought that it will make great contributions to scientific research and tasks in the future.
10) JAXA and MITSUBISHI’S H3 ROCKET
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that it has partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), a sub-firm of one of the world’s most famous automakers and one of the country’s largest engineering companies. This time, the Japanese industrial giant aims to develop rockets that go into space, not cars going on the ground. JAXA and MHI are currently reusable, working on a two-stage rocket. This rocket, which is planned to be put into service in 2021, will carry cargo to the International Space Station. Seeing the increasing momentum of NASA’s Artemis mission (the task that will take people back to the Moon and touch the foot of the Moon for the first time), Japan plans to further develop the H3 rocket and carry it to the Moon. Artemis will take the new generation astronauts to the Moon in 2024; JAXA and MHI also aim to start delivering cargo to the Moon in 2025 or 2026. The missions will take place either in a satellite orbiting the Moon or to take cargo to a space station (planned to be called the “Gate of the Moon”) to be installed in the Moon orbit.
11) UAE’S MARS DUTY “HOPE”
A mission that will go down in history in 2020 is thought to begin: “Hope Mars,” also called the Mars mission of the United Arab Emirates. This mission, funded by the UAE, will be the first space mission performed by an Islamic country. Hope Mars will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the UAE foundation when it reaches the Red Planet in 2021. From a science and engineering perspective, this mission is a Mars orbital vehicle. This vehicle is being developed in the UAE’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center. Partners of the project include Colorado, Berkeley and Arizona State Universities. All three institutions are from America. On the spacecraft, the end-of-technology will be three devices and will gather information about the climate and atmospheric history of the planet in detail we could not obtain before. With the information we have obtained from this task, we hope to learn how Mars’ atmosphere was billions of years ago, to determine what removed hydrogen and oxygen from the atmosphere, and what changes occurred in the atmosphere during the year, month or even day.