“So it’s really important to get that time down so that you have precision of tracking, and you can enter tactical mode - you can actually trigger behaviors that you can’t do if you’re seeing the object only once per day.” “If there’s a collision happening in space and that generates a plume of debris, and you’re not tracking that debris often enough, you could end up hitting other without having the time to move them,” he said.
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While the tracking frequency depends on the type of object and orbit, Saint-Germain said ultimately a LEO object could enter the field of view of its full fleet of space cameras multiple times per hour. NorthStar’s agreement with Spire includes options for up to 30 satellites, which would enable the SSA platform to track these objects more frequently. He said the agreement with Rocket Lab includes another two missions of four satellites that could start launching as early as next year.Īt least 12 satellites are needed to provide full commercial services from an SSA platform designed to track objects as small as five centimeters in LEO and 40 centimeters in geostationary orbit. “It’s really a testament to the maturity of the industry that we were able to turn around so quickly to find another launcher,” he added, “I mean, this would have been impossible just a few years ago.” “We were able to change a negative into a positive,” said Saint-Germain, who joined the company shortly before Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Using larger capacity on Electron to deploy more satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) gives its SSA system greater coverage from the outset for early adopters, said NorthStar chief operating officer David Saint-Germain. NorthStar had planned to launch three satellites in its initial batch with Virgin Orbit, before the air-launch company fell into bankruptcy in April. Rocket Lab is contracted to launch the venture’s first four satellites this fall on an Electron rocket, NorthStar announced June 22. Spire Global is providing the satellites, each the size of 16 cubesats. Canada’s NorthStar Earth and Space has signed a multi-launch deal with Rocket Lab after Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy shattered plans to start deploying its space situational awareness (SSA) satellites this summer.
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