LeoStella, a specialized company for the design and manufacture of satellite constellations, delivered its first satellite to Loft Orbital Solutions Inc.. (Loft Orbital).
LeoStella presented “Another mission-3”(ЯМ-3) a satellite to Cape Canaveral for the upcoming launch of SpaceX. The YAM-3 satellite will host a variety of payloads, including a demonstration of Agency for Defense Research Projects‘s (DARPA) Blackjack program and Internet of Things (IoT) payload for Eutelsat. The satellite is part of a broader contract to build and integrate satellite buses for several upcoming Loft Orbital missions (see information below).
Photo of the small satellite of LeoStella YAM-3, which was delivered to Cape Canaveral for launch for the operator Loft Orbital.
The delivery of this satellite demonstrates LeoStella’s ability to use its continuous production line of commercial satellites to meet the mission’s short-term needs. LeoStella’s intelligent manufacturing facility uses a software-defined digital process combined with a strong supply chain to make satellite manufacturing more flexible and efficient. The plant is designed to maximize efficiency by delivering up to 40 satellites per year, and is scalable to keep pace with rapidly growing market demand.
“We have built a great partnership with Loft Orbital,” said Brian Ryder, Chief Technology Officer at LeoStella. “By pulling the satellites out of our production line, we can adapt them to the Loft payload center and deliver them in less than half the time normally required for a satellite build cycle. Loft has a unique “Facilitating Space” approach for its customers. We are proud to be part of their ecosystem of stimulating technologies and processes. ”
“We are pleased to use LeoStella’s manufacturing capabilities to provide our customers with our in-orbit services.,” said Pierre-Damien Vaujour, Co-founder and CEO of Loft Orbital. “We are impressed by the agility and dedication of the LeoStella team and look forward to expanding our partnership for future missions. Now that our payload center is fully compatible with LeoStella’s product, our upcoming missions will be even more reliable and delivered into orbit even faster.. “
Original information …
Loft Orbital Solutions Inc. (Loft Orbital) has signed a contract with LeoStella to build and integrate satellite buses for several upcoming Loft Orbital missions.
Under the contract, LeoStella will use its state-of-the-art production facility, opened in 2019, to produce a variety of ESPA-based buses for use in upcoming Loft Orbital missions, including its YAM-3 and YAM-5 satellites. YAM means “Another Mission”. These buses will be almost identical in design to the LeoStella satellite bus product line that she has developed for other customers.
Loft Orbital manages customer payloads as a service, handling the entire mission on behalf of its customers, while ensuring that the customer continues to control payload transactions. Loft Orbital has developed the hardware and software technologies needed to manage multiple payloads of a common bus design without customizing the specific mission.
These technologies allow it to procure satellite buses before it knows the mission payload configuration, supporting images and cameras, radio frequency sensors, scientific payloads for geophysical research or space science, weather and climate sensors, and specialized sensors focused on missions for National Security . This approach leads to a service that provides unparalleled orbital speed and reliability for Loft customers.
Upcoming Loft Orbital missions will manage a variety of consumer cargoes, including a demonstration of the Blackjack program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), multiple Internet of Things (IoT) payloads for Eutelsat, and a hyperspectral camera for the United Arab Emirates government. Loft Orbital is currently carrying out several YAM missions scheduled to launch over the next 24 months.
Both LeoStella and Loft Orbital are approaching the growing demand in the industry with such thinking. LeoStella uses its new facility, equipped with intelligent workstations, connected tools and unique automated approaches to integration and testing, combined with a strong supply chain, to introduce new open flexibility and efficiency in satellite production.
Loft Orbital has developed the Payload Hub, a modular, hardware and software payload interface interface that allows it to share all payload configurations on a standard satellite bus. The company has also developed a highly automated cockpit mission management system that allows customers to set their payload without the burden of performing mission operations.
Executive comments
“Loft has developed a range of hardware and software products that allow us to manage a wide range of payloads with a standard bus design.,” said Pierre-Damien Vaujour, Co-CEO of Loft Orbital. “Using LeoStella’s existing bus architecture and its flexible manufacturing facility, we provide a reliable satellite bus twice as fast as any other company. This becomes a huge value for our customers in the form of a faster schedule and lower program risk, because we deliver satellites long before we complete our missions. We could not be more excited about this partnership. “
“Loft’s innovative approach to payload configuration combined with the rapid production of high-quality LeoStella satellites reduces the barrier to access to space,” said Brian Ryder, the technical director of LeoStella. “We are excited about this program with Loft, as it demonstrates our ability to minimize costs and reduce the time required to produce satellites. The road to space has never been shorter. “
