ION Satellite Carrier

Last updated
ION Satellite Carrier
ManufacturerD-Orbit
Country of origin Italy
Website https://www.dorbit.space/launch-deployment
Specifications
Spacecraft type Satellite dispenser
Design life> 3 years
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass160 kg
Production
StatusActive
Planned1
Launched14
Operational14
Maiden launch3 September 2020
Last launch16 August 2024
Related spacecraft
Flown with Falcon 9 Block 5
Vega

ION Satellite Carrier (formerly ION CubeSat Carrier) is a satellite platform developed, manufactured, and operated by Italian company D-Orbit. The platform features a customizable 64U satellite dispenser capable of hosting a combination of CubeSats that fits the volume. Throughout a mission, ION Satellite Carrier can release the hosted satellites individually, changing orbital parameter between one deployment and the next. [1] Each of the miniature CubeSats weighs a few kilograms.

Contents

The organization also developed a D3 (D-Orbit Decommissioning Device) system, which has obtained funding from the European Commission and the European Space Agency, to safely dispose of satellites at the end of their lives and avoid adding to the problems created by the approximately 130 million pieces of space debris. According to D-Orbit, a space circular economy is feasible, and space recycling will soon be a new sector. This will involve using local resources such as dead satellites to create spaceships in space. [2] [3]

The inaugural mission, named Origin, was launched on Vega flight VV16 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana on September 3, 2020. [4] The vehicle, named ION SCV Lucas, carried 12 SuperDove satellites from Planet Labs. On September 25, ION SCV Lucas released successfully the first SuperDove satellite of the batch; the last satellite was deployed on October 28. As of December 2023, ION SCV has successfully completed 13 missions, 1 as a payload of a Vega rocket and 12 as a payload of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.

D-Orbit is a successful alumnus of the European Space Agency's incubator, ESA BIC Portugal, and the two firms collaborated on Project Sunrise, an active debris removal project, in 2019. [2] [5]

Mission overview

The carrier deployed CubeSats one by one using a spring release mechanism once positioned in a Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km. The 60 cm cubic dispenser allows for several combinations of 1U, 2U, 3U, 3U+, 6U, 6U+, 12U and 12U+ Cubesats along the vertical axis. After completion of the up to one month long deployment phase, ION CubeSat Carrier will initiate a validation phase of its payloads directly integrated on the platform. [6]

Missions

Past missions

Mission NameSpacecraftDateLaunch VehiclePayloadCustomersOutcome
OriginION SCV-001 Lucas3 September 2020 Vega Flag of the United States.svg Flock-4v × 12 Planet Labs Success
PulseION SCV-002 Laurentius24 January 2021 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the United States.svg Flock-4s × 8 Planet Labs Success
Flag of the United States.svg SpaceBEE × 12 Swarm Technologies
Flag of Italy.svg ARGO (hosted)EICAS Automazione
Flag of Spain.svg DRAGO (hosted) IAC
Wild RideION SCV-003 Dauntless David30 June 2021 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg GhalibMarshall IntechSuccess
Flag of Thailand.svg NAPA-2 RTAF
Flag of Spain.svg NEPTUNO Elecnor Deimos
Flag of Kuwait.svg QMR-KWTOrbital Space
Flag of Bulgaria.svg SPARTAN EnduroSat
Flag of Finland.svg W-Cube Reaktor Space
Flag of Italy.svg LaserCube (hosted)Italian Stellar Project
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nebula (hosted)D-Orbit UK
Flag of the United States.svg Worldfloods (hosted)Frontier Development Lab
Dashing Through the StarsION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora13 January 2022 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the United States.svg DODONA USC Success
Flag of Poland.svg LabSat SatRevolution
Flag of Poland.svg STORK 1, 2 SatRevolution
Flag of Poland.svg SW1FT SatRevolution
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg VZLUSat-2VZLU
Flag of Italy.svg Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of Finland.svg cloud platform (hosted)D-Orbit / Unibap / VTT
SpacelustION SCV-005 Almighty Alexius1 April 2022 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Luxembourg.svg KSF2 × 4 Kleos Space Success
Flag of Chile.svg PlantSat University of Chile
Flag of Chile.svg SUCHAI 2, 3 University of Chile
Flag of Italy.svg UP-box (hosted)Upmosphere
Infinite BlueION SCV-006 Thrilling Thomas25 May 2022 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Spain.svg Guardian 1Aistech SpaceSuccess
Flag of the United States.svg Flag of Italy.svg SBUDNIC BUSE / CNR
Flag of the United States.svg Crypto-1 (hosted)Cryptosat
Flag of Italy.svg GEN-01 (hosted)Genergo
Second Star to the RightION SCV-007 Glorious Gratia3 January 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Astrocast × 4 Astrocast SA Success
Flag of Italy.svg FUTURA-SM1NPC Spacemind
Flag of Italy.svg FUTURA-SM3NPC Spacemind
Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of the United States.svg Kelpie 1ACC Clyde Space / Orbcomm
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Flag of Turkey.svg Sharja-Sat-1 SAASST / ITU
ION SCV-008 Fierce Franciscus Flag of Israel.svg TAUSAT2 Tel Aviv University
Flag of the United States.svg Cryptosat-2 (hosted)Cryptosat
Flag of Spain.svg DRAGO-2 (hosted) IAC
Flag of Italy.svg Genergo-2 (hosted)Genergo
? (hosted)(undisclosed)
StarfieldION SCV-009 Eclectic Elena31 January 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the United States.svg Satellite simulator EBAD Success
Flag of Germany.svg ADEO-N3 (hosted)HPF
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Bunny (hosted) EPFL
Flag of New Zealand.svg SD-1 (hosted)StardustMe
GuardianION SCV-010 Masterful Matthaeus15 April 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Europe.svg ELO-3 Eutelsat Success
Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg EPICHyper-1AAC Clyde Space / Wyvern
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kepler-20, 21 Kepler Communications
Flag of Brazil.svg VCUB1Visiona
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg MicroCMG (hosted)Veoware
Flag of Italy.svg SCORPIO (hosted)Elettronica Group
Above the SkyION SCV-011 Savvy Simon12 June 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg EPICHyper-2AAC Clyde Space / WyvernSuccess
Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of the United States.svg Kelpie-2AAC Clyde Space / Orbcomm
Flag of the United States.svg Outpost Mission 1Outpost Space
Flag of Vatican City (2023-present).svg Flag of Italy.svg SpeiSat Dicastery for Communication / ASI
Flag of Europe.svg ELO-4 Eutelsat
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg AlbaPod × 2 (hosted) Alba Orbital
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg NaviLEOTM (hosted)SpacePNT
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg ODIN-DU1 (hosted)ODIN Space
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg UKRI SWIMMR-1 (hosted) UKRI
Cosmic WanderION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo11 November 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the United States.svg Crypto3CryptosatSuccess
Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg EPICHyper-3AAC Clyde Space / Wyvern
Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of Poland.svg Intuition-1AAC Clyde Space / KP Labs
Flag of the United States.svg Lemur-2 NANAZ Spire Global
Flag of the United States.svg OSW CazorlaOdyssey SpaceWorks
Flag of Italy.svg PiCo-IoT × 9Apogeo Space
Flag of Sweden.svg Flag of the United States.svg Ymir-1AAC Clyde Space / Saab AB / Orbcomm
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg AlbaPod × 2 (hosted) Alba Orbital
Flag of Poland.svg Antelope (hosted)KP Labs
Flag of Italy.svg Gen-03 (hosted)Genergo
Flag of Italy.svg Radiosat&Beamasat (hosted)PICOSATS
BeyondION SCV-015 Daring Diego1 December 2023 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Spain.svg ALISIO-1 IAC Success
Flag of Thailand.svg LOGSATSPatriot Infovention
Flag of Germany.svg NanoFF A, B TU Berlin
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg AlbaPod (hosted) Alba Orbital
Flag of the United States.svg MI:1 (hosted)TRL11
Flag of the United States.svg Pono 1 (hosted)Privateer
Flag of Italy.svg RECS (hosted) Polimi
Flag of New Zealand.svg Z01 SuperTorquer (hosted)Zenno Astronautics
Celestial BlissION SCV-012 Magnificent Monica16 August 2024 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the United States.svg Lemur-2 × 4 Spire Global Success
Flag of the United States.svg Sedna-1AAC SpaceQuest
Flag of the United States.svg Poseidon M1.5Miles Space
Flag of South Korea.svg TetraPLEX (hosted)TelePIX


AscendION SCV Eminent Emmanuel'14 January 2025 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Data DOT × 4Space DotsSuccess
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg SWIMMR UK Research and Innovation
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg AlbaPod PocketQube (hosted) Alba Orbital
Flag of the United States.svg Poseidon M1.5Miles Space
Endelss SkyION SCV Amazing Antonius14 January 2025 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Thailand.svg LOGSATS-2EOS OrbitSuccess
Flag of Portugal (official).svg PoSAT-2LusoSpace
Flag of the United States.svg Mission Impossible: 2 (hosted)TRL11
Flag of France.svg Hitchhiker 1SpaceLocker
Flag of the United States.svg K2 Space Component Mission (hosted)K2 Space
Flag of Italy.svg AI-eXpress (AIX)Planetek
Wish Upon a StarION SCV Marvelous Mathias145 March 2025 Falcon 9 Block 5 Flag of Thailand.svg LOGSATS-2EOS OrbitSuccess
Flag of Italy.svg HERMES 1-6 (High Energy

Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites)

Italian Space Agency
Flag of Portugal (official).svg DARK (hosted)Arkadia Space
Flag of Germany.svg GO-2 Propulsion System (hosted)Morpheus Space
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Clustergate-1DPhi Space
Flag of the United States.svg Shooting Star MemorialBeyond Burials


Planned missions

Mission NameSpacecraftDateLaunch VehiclePayloadCustomersOutcome

See also

References

  1. "D-Orbit launches its first ION Satellite Carrier". www.spacenewsfeed.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  2. 1 2 "D-Orbit brings tiny nano satellites to space for collecting climate change data". European Investment Bank. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  3. "Mitigating space debris generation". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  4. Clark, Stephen. "Cluster of international satellites ready for ride into orbit on Vega rocket – Spaceflight Now" . Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  5. "Stories: Meet D-Orbit, the EIC-funded startup cleaning up space junk in orbit | European Innovation Council". community-smei.easme-web.eu. Archived from the original on 2021-05-09. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  6. "ION". InOrbit Now (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2019-06-23. Retrieved 2019-03-19.