Exolaunch, a global company in small satellite launch services, mission management and deployment technologies has successfully deployed 21 satellites on SpaceX’s Transporter-7 mission. The mission was launched using a SpaceX Falcon 9 on April 14 at 11:48pm PT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA. This is the 19th mission in Exolaunch’s flight heritage, bringing it to a well-rounded 290 satellites launched and taking the Company ever closer to the 300 satellites milestone.
Exolaunch successfully deployed 16 CubeSats and 5 microsatellites into a sun-synchronous orbit, bringing the Company’s flight heritage to close to 300 launched satellites. They used its record-breaking EXOpod CubeSat deployers and CarboNIX microsatellite separation systems to execute flawless satellite deployments. The manifest for this Exolaunch mission features a large number of new customers from government, academia and commercial space alongside many of the Company’s long-standing customers Transporter-7 is the maiden flight of the Company’s EXOport Europa multi-satellite adapter, capable of mounting multiple satellites on a single launch slot.
On its second Transporter mission this year, Exolaunch launched a combined mass of over 550 kilograms for multiple international customers hailing from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, Turkey, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Monaco, Lithuania, Denmark, Argentina, Colombia, the UAE and Kenya. In total, Exolaunch safely delivered 16 CubeSats and 5 microsatellites carrying various Earth observation and communication payloads into a sun-synchronous orbit above an altitude of 500 km. During the flight, all customer satellites separated seamlessly from the Falcon 9 upper stage via Exolaunch’s industry-leading EXOpod and EXOpod Nova CubeSat deployers as well as its CarboNIX microsatellite separation systems.
This mission’s manifest reflects a rapidly broadening customer base for Exolaunch. Indeed, the Company welcomed new customers from government, academia and commercial space, including Canada’s Space Flight Laboratory on behalf of the Norwegian Space Agency, TÜBITAK UZAY, the Kenya Space Agency with SayariLabs and EnduroSat, ISILAUNCH on behalf of Orbital Solutions Monaco (OSM) and Laboratoire Athmosphères Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), the Stanford Student Space Initiative at Stanford University, Bronco Space at Cal Poly Pomona, UK-based OrbAstro for AstroForge, and the Colombian Air Force. Additionally, long-standing customers such as NewSpace power houses Spire Global, Kongsberg NanoAvionics on behalf of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and an undisclosed customer, Unseenlabs, GomSpace, EnduroSat on behalf of Sateliot, Plan-S and Satellogic successfully deployed their satellites via Exolaunch on Transporter-7.
Exolaunch fully managed the missions of all customer satellites clustered on a Falcon 9 launch port, and supplied hardware, integration, and deployment services for Satellogic on another port. All these satellites were mounted on two EXOport multi-satellite adapters, including the brand-new Europa-type which is capable of mounting no less than 6 different separation systems. Transporter-7 marks the maiden flight of the EXOport Europa on Falcon 9.
Since the beginning of SpaceX’s dedicated rideshare program in 2021, Exolaunch has been using the EXOport adapters to mount and optimally cluster satellites on a single Falcon 9 rideshare port for superior cost effectiveness. The Company will bring this extensive experience to the upcoming Rideshare Plates being introduced by SpaceX for future Transporter missions. Exolaunch provides capacity for its customers on Falcon 9 rideshare missions under a Multi-Launch Agreement (MLA) with SpaceX first signed in 2020 and since expanded to include new missions. Under the terms of the MLA, Exolaunch provides turnkey mission management, testing, integration services as well as its industry-leading separation systems.
“The Transporter program has become emblematic of the diversity and affordability of NewSpace, and Exolaunch is proud to help drive a more democratic and streamlined access-to-space architecture”, said Connor Pollock, Mission Director at Exolaunch. “Our talented team always rises to the opportunity of launching new customers, going so far as designing custom hardware solutions for each of them. You can see this with EXOport Europa, whose first launch on Transporter-7 is a testament to our commitment to customer success.” “It is a privilege to fly with such prestigious customers on Transporter-7 and we are especially proud to accompany and stand alongside emerging space nations as they take their historic first steps in orbit”, said Jeanne Allarie, VP Launch at Exolaunch. “Through our work on rideshare launches, Exolaunch has the chance to bring together the entire NewSpace value chain and take them across the finish line.”
Exolaunch is on track to deliver its fastest-paced launch schedule in 10 years, having manifested a quickly-broadening scope of international customers on all upcoming SpaceX Transporter missions this year, as well as providing mission management and deployment systems across multiple new launch vehicles.
Click here to learn more about EXOpod CubeSat Deployers.
Click here to learn more about CarboNIX microsatellite separation systems.
