After its departure, Cygnus will release six CubeSats from its NanoRacks deployer on board. These shoebox-sized satellites will perform various tasks including weather tracking and solar panel testing.
Following unberthing, the “S.S. J.R. Thompson” will raise its orbit above the International Space Station and use a NanoRacks CubeSat deployer to release six CubeSats into orbit. Four of the CubeSats will join Spire Global’s commercial weather satellite constellation for global ship and weather tracking. The NanoRacks manifest also includes the AeroCube 12A and 12B satellites. These two CubeSats come from the Aerospace Corporation and test new star tracker imagers and high-efficiency solar panels.The mission is expected to end July 30 when Cygnus will execute a safe, destructive reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean
We just welcomed our first four ADS-B (plane tracking) enabled satellites to orbit!
For those keeping score at home, the new satellite names are: LEMUR2-TOMHENDERSON, LEMUR2-YUASA, LEMUR2-ALEXANDER, and LEMUR2-VU
Dulles, Virginia July 16, 2018 –Yesterday evening, NanoRacks successfully deployed six CubeSats from the Company’s CubeSat deployer mounted on the outside of the Cygnus spacecraft. This brings the overall count to 223 small satellites deployed into low-Earth orbit.The ninth contracted resupply mission from Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems) launched on May 21, 2018, carrying NanoRacks’ fifth mission providing opportunities for CubeSat deployment from Cygnus after the vehicle departs from the International Space Station. Prior to launch, the NanoRacks External Cygnus Deployer is installed on the exterior of the Cygnus service module with the capability to deploy satellites after the spacecraft completes its primary space station commercial resupply mission.The Cygnus spacecraft was raised to over 480 kilometers after departing the International Space Station before the CubeSats were released.NanoRacks deployed the following satellites: Lemurs (4 Satellites) – Spire Global, Inc. AeroCube 12A – Aerospace Corporation AeroCube 12B – Aerospace Corporation“This mission truly builds on NanoRacks vision of repurposing in-space hardware,” says NanoRacks Chief Technology Officer, Mike Lewis. “This Cygnus spacecraft carried out a primary mission to the Space Station, re-boosted the Station, and then deployed numerous small satellites from a diverse group of customers. We’re proud to remain a key player in these mission-extending operations while simultaneously providing reliable opportunities for the satellite community.
The Cygnus was detached from the station’s Harmony module in mid-July and has been orbiting Earth for engineering research. It is due to burn up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean at 5:07 p.m. today.