SpaceX is targeting Thursday, January 13 for a Falcon 9 launch of Transporter-3 to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The 29-minute launch window opens at 10:25 a.m. EST, or 15:25 UTC, and a backup opportunity is available on Friday, January 14 with the same window.Falcon 9’s first stage booster previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.Transporter-3 is SpaceX’s third dedicated rideshare mission, and on board this launch are 105 spacecraft (including CubeSats, microsats, PocketQubes, and orbital transfer vehicles).
The mission is flying on a 6U CubeSat platform scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare in December 2021.
Momentus has a contract for its second customer on its hosted payload service, and will host a payload from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), called SSPD-1 at the end of next year. SSPD-1, which will demonstrate a wireless power transmission and a new deployable structure, is set to launch on Momentus’ Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle in December of 2021, and operate onboard the vehicle for about six months.
https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2020/12/15/momentus-lands-caltech-mission-for-its-new-hosted-payload-service/QuoteMomentus has a contract for its second customer on its hosted payload service, and will host a payload from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), called SSPD-1 at the end of next year. SSPD-1, which will demonstrate a wireless power transmission and a new deployable structure, is set to launch on Momentus’ Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle in December of 2021, and operate onboard the vehicle for about six months.
I can’t find any more information about this “SSPD-1” wireless power demonstrator mission by Caltech. Who is the PI for it? Is it really by Caltech or by JPL? Is this a NASA thing, related to Goddard’s SSPD “satellite services projects division”, sspd.gsfc.nasa.gov ?Nothing shows up.
Aren't the launch costs and the costs of the solar cells amortized over time? You can't just divide the gross wattage per KG by the launch cost per KG.What's the time period to pay it off? I didn't follow your reasoning due to these questions.
[Press Release] Orbital Sidekick Announces Upcoming Launch of its Newest Global Hyperspectral Earth Observation Constellation: GHOStAhead of the constellation launch on SpaceX Falcon 9, OSK has selected Astro Digital to manufacture the spacecraft bus and Maverick Space to manage launch servicesSAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Orbital Sidekick (OSK) announced today that it has finalized plans to deploy its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite constellation known as GHOSt. The hyperspectral imaging (HSI) constellation consists of six 100 kg ESPA class satellites designed and manufactured by Astro Digital, with Maverick Space Systems providing mission integration & management services for the launches on SpaceX's Falcon 9. The custom hyperspectral imaging payload is provided by OSK.GHOSt leverages OSK's previous experience collecting and analyzing hyperspectral data with its HEIST mission on the International Space Station in 2019. The custom payload will produce the highest resolution commercial hyperspectral imagery launched to-date with a GSD of approximately 8 meters. The payload will be integrated into Astro Digital's Corvus-XL satellite platform and will take advantage of its industry leading Ka-band data downlink capability."We're excited to partner with Astro Digital and Maverick Space for this initial constellation. Both companies bring a high degree of agility with proven execution to our mission, allowing OSK to focus on the payload and extracting information from our unique hyperspectral data," said Pete Friedhoff, Director of Space Systems for Orbital Sidekick."Persistent, hyperspectral imaging is a critical new capability in remote sensing," said Chris Biddy, Co-founder and CEO of Astro Digital. "We are very pleased to be supporting Orbital Sidekick's mission with our proven satellite technology and capabilities."Maverick Space Systems will provide mission integration hardware and services to launch GHOSt on SpaceX's Falcon 9 at the end of this year and continuing into 2022. "Taking advantage of frequent low-cost launch opportunities is critical to achieve Orbital Sidekick's constellation. We are excited to partner with them and further reduce their per-satellite launch costs by aggregating two GHOSt satellites per ESPA port," said Roland Coelho, CEO of Maverick Space.GHOSt will capture more than 400 spectral bands in the visible to shortwave infrared range of 400 - 2500 nm to feed OSK's Spectral Intelligence Global Monitoring Application (SIGMA™) platform.About Orbital SidekickOrbital Sidekick's proprietary analytics platform and hyperspectral payload architecture provide persistent space-based monitoring solutions powered by Spectral Intelligence™. This unique radiometric speciation and change detection capability enables unparalleled target monitoring services for both commercial and defense users on a global scale. Orbital Sidekick is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information on Orbital Sidekick's global persistent monitoring services, please visit orbitalsidekick.comAbout Astro DigitalAs a holistic offering, Astro Digital currently designs, builds, and operates micro-satellite systems supporting space-based turnkey missions for business applications, including earth observation, communications, In-orbit demonstrations, in addition to various science and exploration applications. Astro Digital is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. For more information on the new CORVUS XL platform or services and technologies available from Astro Digital, visit astrodigital.com.About Maverick SpaceMaverick provides customized, cost effective, and responsive end-to-end launch integration solutions. Maverick's key competencies include mission management, launch deployment hardware, and launch integration services for satellites ranging from 1 kg CubeSats to 400+ kg ESPA class spacecraft. The team at Maverick combines industry experience with agility and efficiency to provide their customers with a seamless, turn-key service in getting their payloads to orbit. Maverick is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, California. For more information on Maverick's launch hardware and service offerings, please visit maverickspace.com.
[Space News] Satellogic signs multi-launch contract with SpaceXQuoteSatellogic plans to conduct its next four launches with SpaceX, starting in June. Additional launches will take place in December and in March and June of 2022. All will be rideshare missions going to sun-synchronous orbits, with at least four satellites on the June launch....“We are looking into deploying more mid-inclination satellites over the next 12–18 months, but we have not yet decided exactly when those launches are going to be.”
Satellogic plans to conduct its next four launches with SpaceX, starting in June. Additional launches will take place in December and in March and June of 2022. All will be rideshare missions going to sun-synchronous orbits, with at least four satellites on the June launch....“We are looking into deploying more mid-inclination satellites over the next 12–18 months, but we have not yet decided exactly when those launches are going to be.”
SOWAExtended EO-capable platform aimed at shared in-orbit service provision – imagery, data, services for external payloads and solutions – launches December 2021 with SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The December 2021 mission, called SOWA, will follow in the footsteps of SatRevolution’s previous missions SW1FT and STORK, which will launch in December 2020 and June 2021 respectively. All missions are equipped with SatRevolution’s optical payload Vision 300, capable of capturing imagery of up to 5 m resolution, however SOWA mission will come with multispectral capability to provide additional remote sensing services.
Momentus will deliver Pixxel’s second smallsat to Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) orbit in December 2021 onboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 launch.
With the success of Ng-15, we are looking forward to our upcoming launches! Here is a sneakpeak pic of our #equalizer hardware ready for lift off on the Dec. 21' #rideshare to SSO!
Kleos Space S.A. (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1, Kleos or Company) has signed a new contract with rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc. to launch the company’s third satellite cluster, (KSF2), in December of 2021 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to further grow the firm’s constellation.
[satnews] Kleos Space’s 3rd Satellite Cluster Launch Set For DecemberQuoteKleos Space S.A. (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1, Kleos or Company) has signed a new contract with rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc. to launch the company’s third satellite cluster, (KSF2), in December of 2021 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to further grow the firm’s constellation.
Yevgeny Rokitsky, the Assistant of the Head of the Committee for Economic Development, said that SpaceX had confirmed the possibility of launching the Sich 2-1 satellite in December 2021, RBC Ukraine reported.
On February, 12, Urusky in an interview with Pervy Delovoy said that the spacecraft is almost ready and requires only an in-service check.
According to the Head of the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Development Dmitry Natalukha, the cost of launching will amount to $1 million
March 21, 2021SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spaceflight Inc., the global launch services provider, announced today it has been awarded a launch service contract for the integration and launch of NASA’s LLITED mission, two 1.5U spacecraft. Spaceflight Inc. will transport the NASA Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere Enhancements in Density (LLITED) CubeSats to low Earth orbit on its Sherpa-LTC orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) at the end of the year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. For this mission, the Sherpa-LTC, which uses chemical propulsion from Benchmark Space Systems, will make its initial spacecraft deployments and then ignite and maneuver to another orbital destination to deploy the NASA CubeSats.The LLITED mission is a grant awarded to The Aerospace Corporation through NASA’s Division of Heliophysics in the Science Mission Directorate and was selected for flight by the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). As a U.S. government direct procurement, Spaceflight is the prime contractor to NASA for the mission and the launch service is led by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Program. The LLITED team includes scientists and engineers from The Aerospace Corporation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and University of New Hampshire.“Spaceflight’s full-service offering with our portfolio of Sherpa OTVs vehicles greatly increases the scientific opportunities for NASA, universities, and other organizations that require deployments to non-traditional orbital destinations,” said Valerie Skarupa, director of government business development for Spaceflight Inc. “We’ve enjoyed a long relationship with NASA, launching nearly 20 spacecraft for the organization over the years, and are focused on helping them get their spacecraft exactly where they need to be on orbit. This opportunity is especially rewarding as the award recognized Spaceflight’s experience with in-space transportation systems.”In January, Spaceflight successfully deployed 15 spacecraft from its first next-gen OTV (Sherpa-FX) on the record-breaking SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-1 launch. Spaceflight is preparing several Sherpas for launch with both electric and chemical propulsion for missions later this year along with many traditional rideshare and dedicated missions, for a total of approximately 10 launches in 2021.The NASA CubeSat project, named LLITED, will investigate the equatorial temperature and wind anomaly that occurs in the neutral atmosphere, and the equatorial ionization anomaly that occurs in the region containing charged particles.“Aerospace’s innovative CubeSat mission will measure these two features simultaneously, a major new milestone for on-orbit satellite capability,” said. Dr. Rebecca Bishop, principal investigator for LLITED. “By observing this altitude region more closely, scientists will gain a greater understanding of the degree of change in atmosphere density, which in turn affects the amount of drag satellites encounter, as well as reentry rates. Because drag is dependent on atmosphere density, understanding regional changes in density can help predict an object’s reentry time and path.”
Wednesday 24th March, 2021 -- Glasgow, UK -- Alba Orbital and Carnegie Mellon University today announced a rideshare agreement to launch the world’s first ‘Orbital Edge Computing’ PocketQube aboard Alba Cluster 4. The mission is scheduled to launch in Q4 2021 via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket using Alba Orbital’s flight proven AlbaPod to deploy the satellites in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Fri 19th March 2021 -- Glasgow, UK -- Alba Orbital and Innova Space today announced a rideshare agreement to launch an in-orbit technology demonstration of ‘MDQube-SAT1’ aboard Alba Cluster 4 in Q4 2021. The mission is scheduled to launch via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket using Alba Orbital’s flight proven AlbaPod to deploy the satellites in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO). MDQube-SAT1 is a 2P PocketQube satellite measuring at just 5x5x10cm, and is one of the first spacecraft of its kind in Latin America. MDQube-SAT1 will serve as a tech demo of Innova Space’s new pico-satellite platform, designed to provide greater Internet of Things (IoT) communications to Latin America’s growing agriculture, mining, oil & gas sectors as part of a wider constellation of satellites....The fast growing new-space start-up now look forward to developing a large constellation, called “Libertadores de América”, of 100 IoT pico-satellites once they have successfully demonstrated the MDQube-SAT1 platform in-orbit via Alba Cluster 4 in Q4 2021. ...Limited slots for Cluster 4 (Q4 2021) and Cluster 5 (Q1 2022) are still available, with prices starting from 25k euro for a 1P PocketQube launch slot.
