SpaceWatch.Global An independent perspective on space
Momentus Space, provider of in-space transportation services for satellites, and SatRevolution, a forerunner of the space industry in Poland, announced on 20 May 2020 an orbital deployment contract for SatRevolution’s LabSat 3U Cubesat. Momentus will launch the 3U cubesat, called LabSat, on-board the Vigoride Orbit transfer vehicle in December of 2020 to an SSO orbit on a dedicated SpaceX Falcon-9 Rideshare mission where Vigoride will then transport the cubesat to a higher drop off altitude. This change in orbital altitude will also help with identifying and tracking their satellite post launch.
LabSat is the result of a project focusing on miniaturized laboratory tools and technologies for testing in microgravity conditions. The satellite consists of a cubesat bus, created by SatRevolution, and scientific payloads developed by four Wrocław based universities, spearheaded by Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.
“SatRevolution is excited to start our cooperation with Momentus,” said Grzegorz Zwolinski, co-founder and COO of SatRevolution. “We hope to put their services to great use in the future, both for general access to orbit, as well as for last mile services – which is their key offering.”
SatRevolution designs and supplies cubesat platforms and services, and is currently working on the first phase of its Earth-observation constellation in 2023. With two satellites already in orbit since 2019 (Światowid and KRAKsat, launched from ISS), SatRevolution is focusing on a series of dedicated and shared customer projects. Based on a tried and tested NanoBus cubesat platform, these satellites will see LEO in the next 12 months.
“We are happy to be working with SatRevolution and powering their complete nanosatellite solutions,” said Mikhail Kokorich, CEO of Momentus. “We’ve tracked their work with scientific institutions, such as Grenoble University Space Centre, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, and AGH University in Krakow and are looking forward to working with them on both scientific and commercial projects in future.”
A graduate of the prestigious Y Combinator program and based in Santa Clara, California, Momentus announced a US$25.5 million Series A raise last year, bringing total funding to nearly US$50 million. Momentus employs new and proprietary technologies, including water plasma propulsion to enable revolutionary low cost orbital shuttle and charter services. The prototype of the Vigoride vehicle, “El Camino Real”, was launched and tested last year. The first Vigoride test mission is planned for December2020 on a SpaceX dedicated rideshare mission to sun-synchronous Orbit (SSO).
Momentus is the first company providing in-space transportation services for satellites. The company was founded in 2017 in Santa Clara, CA. Momentus designs and builds transfer vehicles propelled by proprietary water plasma thrusters. The vehicles ferry satellites to a custom orbit after they are delivered by conventional rockets to their initial orbit. Momentus is a 60 person team growing rapidly.
SatRevolution is a new space company based in Wroclaw, Poland, offering complete nanosatellite systems and solutions. Founded in 2016 with the idea to build and launch first Earth-observation constellation in Poland, SatRevolution has recently been co-funded by European Regional Development Fund for the first stage of the constellation. The company specializes in cubesat and microsat platforms and services, with two satellites already in orbit and a number of customer projects well on the way.
