Maritime satellite data company Spire has announced that it will launch five satellites on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-5 Mission from Florida later this month.
Spire Space Services, the company’s Space-as-a-Service (SPaaS) business, will have satellites and hardware onboard the launch for HANCOM inSPACE, which will host an optical payload on a Spire 6U satellite, and Myriota, a provider of Internet of Things (IoT) service from satellites.
The company will also launch two 3U satellites to be used for demonstration of radio frequency (RF) signal detection and geolocation of L-Band frequencies. The technology demonstration was funded by the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), part of the UK Ministry of Defence.
Spire will additionally launch two replenishment satellites to support its data business, for maritime and other sectors. These satellites are equipped with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors to collect radio occultation and other weather product data.
“The upcoming launch is an exciting moment with the most Space Services customers on board a single launch to date,” said Joel Spark, co-founder and general manager of Space Services, Spire.
“We’re excited to see more organisations deploying and scaling their constellations using our established space, ground, and web infrastructure, leveraging the experience we’ve built across 150+ spacecraft, 30+ launch campaigns, and 350 years of space heritage to get their business launched quickly and with low risk.”