NanoRacks has concluded its fourth external cargo ship satellite deployment mission from Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft on its way back from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth.
During the OA-8 mission, NanoRacks released 14 satellites into specific low-Earth orbits on behalf of various customers, including Spire, Asgardia, Tyvak, and Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
The Asgardia-1 satellite is expected to pave the way for creating a permanent habitat in space.
Aerospace’s optical communications and sensor demonstration (Aerocube 7B/C) satellites and water-based propulsion CubeSats were also deployed through the mission.
The mission began its journey after Cygnus made a departure from the ISS after spending 22 days at the station.
After its departure, Cygnus was elevated to a 450km altitude to enable the NanoRacks deployer, which was installed on its exterior, to release the satellites.
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By GlobalDataNanoRacks senior mission manager Henry Martin said: “This successful mission further exemplifies the growing opportunities for our diverse customer base in low-Earth orbit.
“We’ve now deployed over 200 satellites across all of our platforms.”
The NanoRacks deployer was launched into the ISS as part of Orbital ATK’s CRS-8 (OA-8) mission from Nasa’s Wallops Flight Facility in the US.
The OA-8 mission is scheduled to end this month when Cygnus will make a safe, destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
