Paris, 29 June 2021. – The smallsat manufacturer LeoStella delivered its first satellite to Loft Orbital Solutions, a payload service company, for a rideshare launch on Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, the company said.
As part of a contract to build and integrate satellite buses for several upcoming Loft Orbital missions, LeoStella delivered the “Yet Another Mission-3” (YAM-3) satellite, the company said.
YAM-3 will host a variety of payloads, including a demonstration for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Blackjack program and an Internet of Things payload for Eutelsat, the firm said.
SpaceX’s Transporter 2 rideshare launch was originally scheduled for end of last week. It was postponed in order to conduct additional technical checks.
LeoStella is a joint venture between Thales Alenia Space and BlackSky. The company’s factory is designed to put out up to 40 satellites per year.