Fleet Space Technologies’ first two satellites, Proxima I and II, were launched on 11 November 2018 on-board Rocket Lab’s manifest, It’s Business Time. This launch marks Australia’s first ever commercial CubeSats in orbit.
The launch of the two CubeSats at Launch Complex-1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula represent a huge step forward for Fleet Space Technologies’ mission to build Earth’s digital nervous system to power the next industrial revolution, bringing some of 75 billion devices online.
The Proxima I and II satellites are a pair of identical 1.5 U CubeSats designed and built within six weeks.
Flavia Tata Nardini, Co-founder and CEO, Fleet Space Technologies, said: “It is an incredible milestone to have successfully launched our first commercial CubeSats, Proxima I and II onboard Rocket Lab’s latest mission.”
“This is the first launch of many scheduled for us at Fleet Space Technologies, with our next nanosatellites, Centauri I and II, onboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and ISRO’s mission PSLV C43 in the coming weeks. It is an extraordinary feat to have four satellites launching in one month on three separate missions.”
“We’re thrilled to have built and launched the two Proxima satellites in only a couple of months. Rocket Lab moved rapidly to help us make this a reality extremely quickly – everything from licensing to assisting with complete integration all happened faster than could have been anticipated. Our next steps are to monitor the satellites to ensure they connect, and then secure frequencies.”
“This is a huge step not just for the space industry, but also for industries like farming, mining, logistics and maritime who are closer than ever to having a satellite-based IoT network readily available to transform their businesses,” she added.
