Picosat manufacturer FOSSA Systems signed a service agreement deal during September 2020 with the launch arranger Momentus for the firm to have two of its PocketPod deployers to be launched on the second “Vigoride” mission on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch early in 2021. The two deployers are planned to carry nine “PocketQube” spacecraft (16P in total).
Five customer satellites will be flying on this first mission together with four FOSSA IoT (Internet of Things) demonstrator satellites. The spacecraft carried will be:
CSHARKPILOT-1 (FOSSASAT-2E) is a 2P satellite manufactured by FOSSA to house an Internet of things (IoT) payload by Italian technological provider CShark. This satellite aims to experiment with LoRa nodes processed through their turnkey Pongo user interface for visualizations and big data analysis.
LAIKA (FOSSASAT-2B) is a 2P satellite manufactured by FOSSA and carrying an innovative new propulsion system. In partnership with Stockholm start-up porkchop, LAIKA will be using their structurally-embedded electric propulsion system.
Challenger is a 3P Earth Observation and Communications satellite made using Windform, a carbon based material from CRP Technology. Challenger is designed by US based Mini-Cubes Space Development,
SanoSat-1 is a 1P amateur satellite developed by ORIONSpace in Nepal to experiment with Radiation monitoring and a HAM digipeater.
TRSI3 is a 1P amateur satellite developed to test an experimental SSTV imaging downlink and amateur downlink beacon.
Canary Hatchling is a 1P satellite developed by Care Weather Technologies, located in Utah, USA. Hatchling is an early pathfinder mission for Care Weather’s future cubesat constellation, which will map global oceanic vector winds on an hourly basis. The Hatchling mission provides in-orbit testing for Care Weather’s vertically integrated satellite bus.
Three dedicated FOSSA satellites (FOSSASAT-2C, FOSSASAT-2D and FOSSASAT-2F) will be the first of a constellation to provide LoRa-based IoT communications. These are second generation 2P satellites aimed at providing a high performance PocketQube platform for dedicated constellations and low-cost in-orbit demonstration. This new platform has 1P of payload space, can provide up to 9 watts of solar power, has full ADCS pointing capability and multiple storage / processing options.