Muon Space, a climate satellite company revolutionizing the way Earth is monitored from space, has announced the successful deployment of the company's first satellite, MuSat-1. The ESPA-class spacecraft, which launched on SpaceX's Transporter-8 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Calif. on June 12, is Muon Space's first satellite in orbit and an important step towards its Climate Constellation, which will use a new generation of sensors to monitor Earth's climate and ecosystems.

"This launch is a testament to the incredible team we've assembled here at Muon Space who have designed, built, and now launched an ESPA-class spacecraft in less than two years," said Jonny Dyer, CEO of Muon Space. "MuSat-1 is just the beginning as we push the limit of smallsat technology to produce actionable climate data on a global scale."

Muon Space's Climate Constellation will dramatically improve temporal cadence and sampling, producing sub-hourly global measurements. MuSat-2 and MuSat-3 are close behind - establishing a regular launch cadence to enable a growing constellation for Climate Intelligence data. Each satellite carries next-generation sensors that will provide transformative, actionable insights on Earth's vital signs and the fingerprints of a changing planet.

"We were able to design, build, and launch a mission on an incredibly short timeline because we relied on a 'fail fast' approach to the spacecraft design," added Paridhi Desai, MuSat program lead. "We went through multiple design iterations for all subsystems and are gratified to see how well our platform is operating in space. The communication with MuSat-1 helps us accelerate our development of upcoming satellites in the constellation."

Muon Space's MuSat-1 lifted off on June 12 and the first contact with the satellite was achieved approximately six minutes after deployment from the ground station in Gavle, Sweden. Engineering telemetry indicates the spacecraft is operating as planned and is in a good state of health. 

Click here to learn about Muon Space's Climate Data from Space.