Luxspace

LuxSpace is a European space systems contractor based in Betzdorf in Luxembourg. It was founded in November 2004 as a daughter company of OHB AG, and began operations in January 2005.[1]

History

On 23 September 2009 the PathFinder2A (aka Rubin-9.1, AIS-Pathfinder 2) payload aboard the Rubin-9 satellite (COSPAR 2009-051F; the Rubin-9 "satellite" was actually the upper stage of the carrier rocket that the payloads were solidly bolted onto; after the rocket had finished its mission with the primary payload, the upper stage remained in space and became "satellite" Rubin-9) was launched by a PSLV-CA rocket. This was LuxSpace's first orbital operation. The satellite carried another payload (Rubin 9.2) by OHB-System.[2] As of 2019, both payloads (and thus the whole satellite) are non-operational.[3]

The company's first own, independent (no shared payload by another company) satellite VesselSat-1 was launched on October 12, 2011, as part of the GapFiller program;[4] followed by its twin VesselSat-2 on January 9, 2012.

In 2014 (launch 23 October 2014, 18:00 UTC), LuxSpace performed the 4M or Manfred Memorial Moon Mission, the first private Moon mission. The mission consisted of an amateur radio payload (total mass of payload was 14 kg) that was sent on a close lunar flyby aboard a Chinese Long March 3C/G2 rocket's upper stage. The 4M payload was solidly bolted onto the upper stage of the rocket and did not separate. The Chinese rocket performed the Chang'e 5-T1 lunar flyby mission to test technology for future lunar sample return mission Chang'e 5. The Chang'e 5-T1 test flight sent a space capsule on a flight around the Moon and back toward Earth, with the capsule landing on Earth in the end of the mission. The 4M payload's nominal lifetime was 8 days.[5]

LuxSpace built the ESAIL satellite for the Canadian operator exactEarth under ESA’s SAT‐AIS programme (a part of ESA’s Partnership Projects) for tracking ships. ESAIL is the first commercial microsatellite of the program. ESAIL was launched on September 3, 2021 [6] aboard Arianespace Vega rocket.[7] The launch will take place on the Vega Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept (POC) flight.[8]

Future missions

In May 2021, LuxSpace started the development of their next platform, Triton-X, a microsatellite in the 50-200 kg wet mass range, with high on-board processing capabilities and targeting particularly the commercial space market.[9]

In Fall 2021, LuxSpace, in collaboration with RHEA and OHB, signed a long-term contract with the Luxembourg Ministry of Defense for the in-orbit operations of a Luxembourg Earth Observation satellite.[10]

References
  1. (31 January 2005). "OHB-SES Venture Targets Space, Defense Markets", Space News 16 (4): 13.
  2. "Rubin 9".
  3. Ford, Dominic. "RUBIN 9.1 & RUBIN 9.2 - In-The-Sky.org". in-the-sky.org. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
  4. Lakshmana, LK (12 October 2011). "India joins space big league Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine", Hindustan Times. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  5. "First Private Moon Mission to Launch on Chinese Rocket Today". 23 October 2014.
  6. "Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) POC Mission (Vega) - RocketLaunch.Live".
  7. "Maritime microsatellite ESAIL to test the waters as launch contract is signed".
  8. "Arianespace to launch the ESAIL satellite for exactEarth on Vega's SSMS POC flight".
  9. "OHB LuxSpace and ESA sign contract for the development and qualification of the Triton-X microsatellite platform". ohb.de. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  10. "LUXEOps signs agreement with Luxembourg Directorate of Defence for LUXEOSys ground segment". rheagroup.com. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
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