A space tug is a type of spacecraft used to transfer spaceborne cargo from one orbit to another orbit with different energy characteristics. The term can include expendable upper stages or spacecraft that are not necessarily a part of their launch vehicle. However, it can also refer to a spacecraft that transports payload already in space to another location in outer space, such as in the Space Transportation System concept. An example would be moving a spacecraft from a low Earth orbit (LEO) to a higher-energy orbit like a geostationary transfer orbit, a lunar transfer, or an escape trajectory.
NanoAvionics Corp is a small satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator founded as a spin-off from Vilnius University, Lithuania in 2014.
SHERPA is a commercial satellite dispenser developed by Andrews Space, a subsidiary of Spaceflight Industries, and was unveiled in 2012. The maiden flight was on 3 December 2018 on a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket, and it consisted of two separate unpropelled variants of the dispenser.
ÑuSat satellite series, is a series of Argentinean commercial Earth observation satellites. They form the Aleph-1 constellation, which is designed, built and operated by Satellogic.
Tomorrow.io is an American weather technology company. It provides real-time weather forecasting services and APIs.
Capella Space is an American space company. It is developing space-based radar Earth observation satellites equipped with synthetic-aperture radar that can penetrate clouds and work at night. The company is based in San Francisco, California. It was founded by Payam Banazadeh, a former engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA, and William Walter Woods.
ICEYE Ltd. is a Finnish microsatellite manufacturer. ICEYE was founded in 2014 as a spin-off of Aalto University's University Radio Technology Department, and is based in Espoo.
This article documents expected notable spaceflight events during the year 2024.
The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission is a NASA constellation of six small satellites, 3U CubeSats, that will measure temperature and moisture profiles and precipitation in tropical systems with unprecedented temporal frequency. This data will enable scientists to study the dynamic processes that occur in the inner core of the storm resulting in rapid genesis and intensification. William Blackwell of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts is the principal investigator. The constellation was initially planned to be delivered to orbit on three launches between June and July 2022. Due to the loss of the first two satellites after a launch failure in June of 2022, the first satellites were delivered to orbit aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on 7 May 2023.
Nepal-PQ1 also known as SanoSat-1 is Nepal's first PocketQube picosatellite developed by ORION Space that was launched on January 13, 2022, from Falcon 9. The primary function of the satellite is to collect wind, temperature, and humidity data and communicate findings with ground stations in Nepal
Exolaunch GmbH is a German launch services, mission management, and deployment systems provider based in Berlin, Germany. The company's main focus is the deployment of small satellites, ranging from CubeSats to microsatellites.
Swarm Technologies, Inc. is a company building a low Earth orbit satellite constellation for communications with Internet of things (IoT) devices using a store and forward design. Social Capital incubated Swarm, Craft Ventures was an early investor. On 16 July 2021 Swarm entered into an agreement to become a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX.
EnduroSat AD is a Bulgarian aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Sofia. It was founded in 2015 by Raycho Raychev. The company designs, builds, and operates CubeSats and Nanosatellites for commercial and scientific missions and is developing inter-satellite linking and data applications. EnduroSat was nominated as one of the top 5 small satellite start-ups.
Vigoride is a space tug that is under development by Momentus Space. The total payload capacity that it can support to LEO is 750 kg. Vigoride is capable of changing orbital planes, inclination, and propelling spacecraft to up to 2 km/s. It also provides small satellite operators access to power, communications, and station keeping while with the tug. Momentus states that the cost is roughly $15,000 per kg depending on the exact customer specifications. Vigoride uses a microwave electrothermal thruster (MET) and water as the propellant. In 2019, the first test of the MET in space was completed and was deemed a success in a press release, while the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused it of misleading investors. The maiden launch was originally scheduled for January 2021, but was delayed due to Momentus not being able to receive FAA approval before the launch. On 22 March 2021, a Vigoride mock-up named Vigoride SC was launched in place of a functional Vigoride. In October 2020, the company stated that it had already booked 1.5 Vigorides out of the 3 planned to be launched in December 2021. On 25 May 2022, Momentus launched its first Vigoride spacecraft aboard SpaceX Transporter 5 mission.
Astrocast is a Swiss satellite communications company based in Lausanne. It aims to establish a global satellite network for IoT applications.
SatRev S.A. is a Polish company established in 2016, that specialises in building small, lightweight, nanosatellites. The company was listed in the NASA's "State of the Art Small Spacecraft Technology" report as one of 12 in the world.
Momentus Inc, sometimes styled Momentus space, is an American spaceflight company founded by Mikhail Kokorich which plans to offer space infrastructure services in the form of on-orbit services. The company advertises three orbital tug services which are based around spacecraft electric propulsion and vary in payload mass and Delta-v. As of late 2022 the company has launched one demonstration mission, which produced mixed results.
