Unseenlabs, the world leader in space-based RF detection for Maritime Domain Awareness, has recently signed a launch services agreement (LSA) with Exolaunch, an international provider of launch services and deployment solutions, to deploy its BRO-8 nanosatellite on SpaceX’s Transporter-6 rideshare mission, which is to launch no earlier than (NET) January 2023.
Manufactured by GOMSpace, BRO-8 (Breizh Reconnaissance Orbiter-8) is a 6U satellite designed to provide customers with data and analytics based on the interception of radio frequency (RF) signals (detection of electromagnetic waves emitted by electronic devices from Earth’s surface). It is to be the eighth satellite of Unseenlabs’ constellation, designed for high-precision maritime vessel tracking.
BRO-8 will be launched via Falcon 9 and deployed into sun-synchronous orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Under the LSA, Exolaunch is overseeing all rideshare mission management, environmental testing and satellite integration and deployment.
"We are looking forward to launching BRO-8, our eighth satellite, with Exolaunch and SpaceX,” says Jonathan Galic, CTO and cofounder of Unseenlabs. “This RF nanosatellite represents a crucial step in the development of our space-based radio frequency detection technology dedicated to Maritime Domain Awareness. It will allow us to improve our solution and revisit time. Thanks to Exolaunch and SpaceX, we will be able to provide the best quality service possible to our customers."
Transporter-6 marks Exolaunch's sixth rideshare mission under its ongoing multi-launch agreement (MLA) with SpaceX. For each mission under the agreement, Exolaunch provides customers with an end-to-end launch solution from planning to deployment.
BRO-8 has been integrated into the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and will be deployed into sun-synchronous orbit by Exolaunch’s EXOpod Nova, the most advanced nanosatellite deployer on the market with a 100 percent successful deployment history. Nova increases available side panel volume by a factor of four and increases available mass by 30 percent, enabling a wider and more powerful array of nanosatellite designs and use cases.
“Unseenlabs and Exolaunch have long held a strong partnership, launching together on nearly all of our companies’ space missions and now expanding to new launch vehicles,” says Michael Tolstoj, Mission Director at Exolaunch. ”Unseenlabs is at the leading edge of maritime surveillance, and with so much at stake in this field we are happy to support those who are contributing the most.”