Anywaves’ Collaboration with Loft Orbital on the YAM Missions

Loft Orbital, a pioneering company in the space infrastructure sector, is recognized for its innovative approach to satellite missions, enabling customers to access space without requiring dedicated satellites. The company’s YAM (Yet Another Mission) series highlights this model, offering a flexible and scalable platform for deploying various payloads across different missions. These satellites, including YAM-3, YAM-5, and YAM-6, support a wide range of commercial and scientific applications, demonstrating the cost-effectiveness and adaptability of shared satellite platforms.

We are pleased to announce that Loft Orbital has partnered with Anywaves to deliver reliable, high-performance communication systems for these missions. Anywaves has been chosen to supply S-band antennas for the YAM series, playing a vital role in maintaining strong and efficient communications for these versatile satellites.

In this article, we’ll explore the various YAM missions, highlighting their unique purposes and features. We will also discuss the partnership between Loft Orbital and Anywaves, focusing on our role in supporting these missions with our antennas.

The YAM Series: Enabling Mission Diversity on Shared Platforms

Loft Orbital’s YAM series represents a strategic initiative to build a multi-purpose satellite fleet capable of hosting a wide range of payloads on shared platforms. By providing a standardized satellite bus, the YAM series enables Loft to rapidly deploy mission-specific payloads, significantly reducing both costs and time-to-orbit for customers. This approach democratizes access to space, allowing organizations to conduct satellite missions without requiring dedicated infrastructure. The constellation supports applications from Earth observation and IoT to advanced scientific research and technology demonstrations, fostering innovation across the industry.

Loft Orbital YAM 2 and YAM 3 satellites in orbit. Source: Sky-Brokers

YAM-3: Multi-Payload Capabilities in Orbit

Launched in June 2021, YAM-3 was a pivotal satellite for Loft Orbital, exemplifying its ability to support multiple, diverse missions on a single satellite. Part of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rideshare mission, YAM-3 carried various payloads, showcasing its flexibility and Loft’s scalable approach.

The YAM-3 satellite bus, developed by LeoStella, hosted a range of payloads, including one for DARPA’s Blackjack program to demonstrate satellite constellation technologies, and an IoT payload for Eutelsat aimed at enhancing global IoT connectivity. With the support of Anywaves’ S-band antennas, YAM-3 maintained reliable communication channels, enabling Loft to carry out these diverse missions on a single satellite platform.

Photo of LeoStella’s YAM-3 smallsat. Source: SatNews

YAM-5: Facilitating In-Orbit Testing for RF and Beyond

Launched in January 2023, YAM-5 carried Loft Orbital’s RF Space Lab, a reconfigurable radio-frequency payload developed for Kinéis, a leading IoT operator. This mission provided an in-orbit testbed to validate various RF technologies, supporting advancements in IoT connectivity and demonstrating Loft’s capacity to host flexible technology testing platforms.

In addition to Kinéis’ RF Space Lab, YAM-5 was structured to support other Loft Orbital customers seeking rapid deployment options for diverse payloads. These included additional experimental and research-focused missions in Earth observation and communications. Although Anywaves’ S-band antennas were primarily utilized for the RF Space Lab’s TT&C needs, the satellite’s infrastructure simultaneously enabled these other payloads, further showcasing Loft’s capacity for mission multiplicity within a single satellite platform. For an in-depth look at Loft’s integrated payload management, see their SatDevOps model.

Le satellite YAM-5 pendant la phase d’intégration. (Crédit : LORT ORBITAL)

YAM-6: Implementing Virtual Mission Capabilities

Launched in March 2024, YAM-6 focuses on enabling virtual missions through Loft Orbital’s proprietary Cockpit software, which allows clients to deploy applications directly onto the satellite. Supported by a comprehensive SDK and APIs, this mission included payloads such as a hyperspectral imager, an RGB imager, and a software-defined radio, with capabilities for real-time connectivity.

With Anywaves’ S-band antennas providing consistent and reliable communication, YAM-6 successfully demonstrated Loft’s ability to integrate and operate virtual missions onboard. For more on strategic applications from clients like Helsing, you can refer to their press release. This mission showcases the versatility of the YAM platform in handling complex, scalable mission requirements.

Anywaves’ Contribution – S-Band Antenna

Anywaves provided specialized S-band antennas for all three of these missions. These antennas offer high gain and broad beamwidth, ensuring robust communication links between the satellite and ground stations. The S-band frequency range is particularly suitable for IoT and telemetry applications due to its balance between bandwidth and atmospheric penetration.

Technical Specifications and Performance

• Left or Right Hand circular polarization
• Full duplex Telemetry & Telecommand
• Hemispherical coverage
• HPBW > 90°
• Compact sizing: < 1U
• Radome protection against harsh environment: temperature & ESD

These specifications ensure stable and efficient communication, critical for the satellite’s multi-payload operations.

Anywaves’ S-band antennas are designed to meet the stringent requirements of space environments, including thermal extremes, radiation, and vacuum conditions. They offer high gain and broad beamwidth, ensuring consistent communication links. Their lightweight, compact design makes them suitable for integration with various satellite buses, enhancing the versatility and payload capacity of the missions they support.

Next Milestones for Loft Orbital’s YAM Series

YAM-7: Building Upon Flexible Mission Infrastructure

YAM-7 recently launched, carrying a significant payload for Hydrosat, including the VanZyl-1 thermal infrared sensor, which will deliver critical data for applications like agriculture, wildfire risk assessment, and water stress monitoring. This satellite exemplifies Loft’s commitment to a flexible mission infrastructure capable of supporting high-impact applications. For mission details, please refer to Loft’s LinkedIn update.

Future Missions and Expansion Plans

As Loft Orbital continues to expand their space infrastructure, they plan a steady cadence of mission deployments. This ongoing effort to develop a robust, multi-mission constellation ensures a shared satellite platform that lowers costs and accelerates deployment for diverse applications.

Conclusion

Through the YAM series, Loft Orbital demonstrates a model that enables mission-specific flexibility on shared satellite platforms, reshaping access to space for a wide range of organizations.

Anywaves is proud to support this approach by providing our reliable S-band antennas, facilitating Loft Orbital’s mission to offer fast and simple access to space.

Together, we look forward to continuing this journey and supporting new missions that will drive innovation across industries.