NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

SSMS n°1 PoC

Launch Time
Thu Sep 03, 2020 01:51 UTC

Flight VV16, return to flight for Vega after its failure. The first flight of the new SSMS structure.

Two Spire satellites were lost during their separation. The cause of the failure hasn't yet been identified.

Rocket

Vega
Image Credit: Arianespace
Arianespace
Status: Active
Price: $37.0 million
Liftoff Thrust: 2,200 kN
Payload to LEO: 1,436 kg
Stages: 4
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 29.9 m
Fairing Diameter: 2.6 m
Fairing Height: 7.88 m

Mission Details

ESAIL

ESAIL is a microsatellite for AIS ship tracking operated by exactEarth. It is developed in cooperation with ESA.

exactEarth is a provider of global AIS (Automatic Identification System) maritime vessel data for ship tracking and maritime situational awareness solutions. The ESAIL satellite was supported by European Space Agency (ESA – ESTEC) through the ARTES 21 SAT-AIS (SATellite Automatic Identification System) program and was developed and built by a European manufacturing team led by the satellite prime contractor Luxspace.

The ESAIL microsatellite has a mass of 110 kg and features enhanced multiple antenna-receiver configurations for global detection of AIS messages and high-resolution spectrum capture, which will enable the demonstration of advanced future services such as VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) message reception.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 112.0 kg
Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Flock-v 1 to 14

The Flock Earth-observing constellation built and operated by Planet Labs (formerly Cosmogia Inc.) consists of numerous triple CubeSats.

The majority of the satellites featured a standard RGB imaging system, but five satellites were fitted with experimental systems working in different optical spectral bands.

Planet Labs satellites each carry a telescope and a frame CCD camera equipped with a Bayer-mask filter. The CCD sensor converts filtered photons into electrons, which are then amplified in order to produce a digital number corresponding to each pixel in each band. Planet Labs has flown three generations of optical instruments: Planet Scope 0 (PS0), Planet Scope 1 (PS1), and Planet Scope 2 (PS2). Images have different attributes depending on satellite altitude and instrument type.

PS0 features a 2 element Maksutov Cassegrain optical system paired with an 11MP CCD detector. Optical elements are mounted relative to the structure of the spacecraft. PS1 features the same optical system as PS0, aligned and mounted in an isolated carbon fiber/titanium telescope. This telescope is matched with an 11MP CCD detector. PS2 features a five-element optical system that provides a wider field of view and superior image quality. This optical system is paired with a 29MP CCD detector.

Payloads: 6
Total Mass: 70.0 kg
Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Lemur-2y

Lemur-2 is the initial constellation of low-Earth orbiting satellites built by Spire. These satellites carry two payloads for meteorology and ship traffic tracking.

The Lemur-2 satellites carry two payloads: the STRATOS GPS radio occultation payload and the SENSE AIS payload.

Payloads: 8
Total Mass: 32.0 kg
Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Trisat

Trisat is the first Slovenian satellite to be sent into orbit. Trisat is an educational 3U CubeSat satellite mission led by the University of Maribor, which aims to establish mutual cooperation between Slovenian university students and the Slovenian space industry.

It helps to facilitate a knowledge and technology transfer between the university and the economy through innovations and technologies and with effective support of entrepreneurship and innovative ecosystems, resulting in a symbiotic relationship between both spheres.

Trisat is a small spacecraft, capable of capturing short-wavelength infrared spectrum images of the Earth. This remote sensing data could be used, for example, to detect various vegetation patterns (green areas), to assess the damage caused by natural disasters, and to detect volcanic dust.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 4.0 kg
Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Other playloads

Other CubeSats will share this flight:
AMICal Sat, Athena, Casaa-Sat, DIDO-3, FSSCat A (Phi-Sat-1 A, PhiSat1, BrainSat, Φ-sat-1), FSSCat B (Phi-Sat-1 B, PhiSat1, BrainSat, Φ-sat-1), GHGSat-C1, IGOSat, NEMO-HD, ÑuSat-6 (Aleph-1 6, Hypatia), PICASSO, PINO, NAPA-1 (RTAF-SAT 1 - Royal Thai Air Force CubeSat), PIXL, SIMBA, SpaceBee (x12), TTÜ100, UPMSat 2, D-Orbit’s ION CubeSat Carrier and others.

Payloads: 30
Total Mass: 534.0 kg
Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Location

ELV, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France

Stats

2020

67th orbital launch attempt

Arianespace

279th mission
4th mission of 2020
269th successful mission
7th consecutive successful mission

Vega

16th mission
1st mission of 2020
15th successful mission
1st consecutive successful mission