Record 143 small satellites launch in rideshare
January 25, 2021 //
By Nick Flaherty
The first SmallSat rideshare service from SpaceX launched a record 143 satellites on Sunday with satellites from Germany, Finland, Italy, Denmark and Switzerland.
SpaceX has launched over 50 European small satellites in a record breaking launch on Sunday.
ExoLaunch in Germany coordinated the 30 satellites in a range of launchers, including one that was used for the first time aboard the Transporter 1 payload. D-Orbit in Italy co-ordinated a further 22.
The PIXL-1 mission from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) used a 400g laser relay cubesat called CubeLCT developed by DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation in close cooperation with Tesat-Spacecom (TESAT) in Backnang. The satellite. launched by ExoLaunch, was built and integrated by Danish company GomSpace. CubeLCT is a laser relay terminal that measures 9.5 x 9.5 x 3.25 cm and provides a data rate up to 100Mbit/s for quantum key distribution (QKD) technology in future missions.