WASHINGTON– General Atomics picked Firefly Aerospace to launch a tiny Earth science satellite for NASA on an Alpha rocket in 2022.
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems introducedFeb 18 that it will certainly launch its Orbital Test Bed (OTB) 2 satellite on Firefly’s Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base inCalifornia The firms did not reveal the regards to the agreement.
OTB-2 will certainly bring a NASA instrument, the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA), meant to research study particle issue air contamination in metropolitan locations and also aid researchers comprehend their results on human health and wellness. The spacecraft will certainly run in a polar orbit at an elevation of 740 kilometers.
In a declaration, Scott Forney, head of state of General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, stated the agreement leveraged “Firefly’s inventive launch capabilities with our novel approach to satellite design and development” however really did not clarify why the firm chose a rocket yet to make its initial launch past specifying that Alpha “meets all technical and performance requirements” for the objective.
General Atomics had the capability to pick the launch automobile for the objective, instead of NASA, as a result of the nature of its agreement with the company. NASA granted General Atomics the agreement to fly the MAIA instrument with its Earth Venture Instrument program, which flies tools as organized hauls on spacecraft or theInternational Space Station General Atomics won a $38.5 million agreement from NASA in August 2018 to fly the MAIA instrument, a total amount that included both the spacecraft and also launch solutions.
OTB-2 is a bigger variation of the firm’s OTB smallsat, which introduced in 2019 as component of the Space Test Program 2 objective on a Space XFalcon Heavy That spacecraft organized numerous hauls, consisting of NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock and also a modular solar selection created by the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The MAIA agreement is the most up to date in a collection of honors for Firefly as it nears the initial launch of its Alpha rocket. In December, the firm won a NASA Venture Class Launch Services launch agreement valued at $9.8 million to launch 2 collections of cubesats right into polar orbits. It won a $93.3 million agreement from NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services programFeb 4 for the 2023 launch of the firm’s Blue Ghost lander transportation NASA hauls. That lander will certainly be introduced on an additional firm’s rocket instead of Alpha.
The initially Alpha rocket is presently undertaking launch prep work atVandenberg Tom Markusic, president of Firefly, statedJan 26 that the launch would certainly occur in a “few short weeks,” however the firm has not yet introduced a certain launch day.