Ibadan, 11 March 2024. – Exotrail has announced the successful in-orbit release of an 8U satellite by its Spacevan orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), gaining space heritage with a first “last-mile” in-space delivery. Endurosat manufactured the 8U satellite, named EXO-0, which in turn carried an Airbus Defense and Space payload. This success is an essential achievement for the Company on its path towards becoming a space logistics leader worldwide.
Exotrail’s OTV, Spacevan, successfully separated its passenger in orbit after receiving a telecommand, completing the inaugural demonstration of the end-to-end satellite delivery service: Spacedrop. Launched in November 2023 aboard the SpaceX Transporter 9 mission, Exotrail conducted this delivery mission in close contact with the French Space Agency (CNES) and other space surveillance and tracking (SST) partners to guarantee the safety of all space assets.
Spacedrop is Exotrail’s end-to-end delivery service for satellites, from their integration on the transfer vehicle all the way to the “last mile” release on the desired orbit. This service therefore, allows tailor-made deliveries when embarking on shared standardized flights aboard heavy launchers or by providing additional performance when using lighter launchers.
This delivery also demonstrates the capacity of Exotrail’s Spacevan vehicle to sequence its mission into multiple activities for various clients. Veoware, the second customer of the inaugural mission, will test its own hardware aboard the platform, benefiting from Exotrail’s hosted payload service, Spacehost.
Speaking on the launch, Jean-Luc Maria, Exotrail CEO and Co-Founder, commented, “The Spacevan – 001 mission has showcased our capacities to deliver for our customers, and we have certainly learnt a lot on the journey. The mission is still expected to display even more key features and I look forward to sharing the next steps of the mission soon.”
