WASHINGTON — Three satellites on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare launch in November didn’t deploy, including one from an organization that previously stated its satellite was in orbit and operating.
Momentus announced Dec. 5 that three of the five satellites that it flew on the Transporter-9 launch Nov. 11 didn’t appear to deploy from the Falcon 9’s upper stage. The corporate used a third-party deployer, quite than its own Vigoride tug, on that mission, and said that it was able to verify that the Hello Test 1 and a couple of satellites from Turkish company Hello Space were released.
“Momentus cannot confirm the deployment of the remaining three satellites for 3 other customers and based on the outcomes of an in depth investigation undertaken, the corporate doesn’t imagine those satellites were released from the third-party deployer system,” Momentus stated.
The corporate didn’t mention within the announcement the names of those three satellites. In previous statements the corporate identified the satellites as AMAN-1, JINJUSat-1 and Picacho, and an organization spokesperson confirmed that manifest Dec. 7.
Picacho was a 1U cubesat developed by Lunasonde, a startup based in Tucson, Arizona. The corporate planned to make use of Picacho to exhibit technology for its plans to map subsurface mineral and groundwater resources using very-low-frequency radio waves.
Lunasonde had indicated that the satellite was orbit after the launch and operating. In a Dec. 1 article by the Arizona Every day Star, Jeremiah Pate, founder and chief executive of Lunasonde, said the corporate had received telemetry that confirmed that Picacho had deployed its essential antenna, a tool like a tape measure nearly 4 meters long.
“The scary part for us is the deployment of that enormous antenna, and that intended deployment didn’t occur for a number of days,” Pate said within the article, which provided no other details in regards to the status of Picacho.
Pate also said on social media that the satellite was in orbit. “Lunasonde is thrilled that after a flawless launch our Picacho satellite is now in orbit,” he posted on LinkedIn. Neither he nor Lunasonde have provided every other updates in regards to the satellite.
The corporate didn’t reply to messages Dec. 7 and eight asking in regards to the status of Picacho. Pate did post on LinkedIn Dec. 7 that the corporate has arranged for the launch of a 6U cubesat, San Xavier, on SpaceX’s Transporter-11 mission in mid-2024. He didn’t say if the corporate worked directly with SpaceX to rearrange the launch or through a provider like Momentus.
If Picacho didn’t deploy from the Falcon 9 upper stage, as Momentus stated, it might now not be in orbit. That upper stage performed a deorbit maneuver and reentered about an hour after the last of its 90 payloads were scheduled to be deployed.
Picacho, together with AMAN-1 and JINJUSat-1, aren’t listed within the Space-Track database maintained by the U.S. Space Force. Nonetheless, lots of the payloads from that launch still lack formal identifications.
“Momentus appreciates and thanks SpaceX for its work and collaboration in providing information crucial to help our ongoing investigation into the likely root explanation for the problems encountered,” Momentus said in its statement in regards to the apparent deployment failure. “Momentus has also been in regular communication with our customers.”
JINJUSat-1 was developed by South Korean company Contec for Jinju City, Korea Testing Laboratory and Gyeongsang National University. Those organizations haven’t commented on the lack of the satellite.
AMAN-1 was built by Polish company SatRev for the federal government of Oman, and the corporate has not provided updates on status of the satellite. AMAN-1 was built as a alternative for AMAN, also developed by SatRev for Oman. The unique AMAN satellite was lost within the LauncherOne failure by Virgin Orbit in January.