WASHINGTON — Exotrail reported on March 6 that it has successfully deployed a satellite from its first spacevan orbital transfer vehicle.
The company stated that it launched the 8U cubesat, named EXO-0 and created by Endurosat, from its spacevan-001 orbital transfer vehicle on Feb. 28. The tug had been in orbit since a November launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 rideshare mission into sun-synchronous orbit. Exotrail, a French startup that initially focused on satellite propulsion and software, developed spacevan to offer delivery services for customers to take advantage of low-cost rideshare launch opportunities. Exotrail is one of several companies developing or operating such tugs. “Today is an historic moment for Exotrail, as this achievement marks a new leap towards becoming a worldwide space logistics leader,” said Jean-Luc Maria, chief executive of Exotrail. “The spacevan-001 mission has showcased our capacities to deliver for our customers, and we have certainly learned a lot on the journey.”
The deployment took place after extensive testing of space van following its November launch.
Exotrail plans to keep using spacevan-001, including testing of the spacecraft itself as well as a hosted payload from Veoware, a Belgian startup developing control moment gyros and reaction wheels.
In addition to satellite deployments in low Earth orbit, Exotrail is working on a version of its tug to allow smallsats to travel to geostationary orbit.
Exotrail announced on March 6 that it has successfully deployed a satellite from its first spacevan orbital transfer vehicle.
Exotrail plans to continue operating spacevan-001. That includes testing of the spacecraft itself as well as a hosted payload from Veoware, a Belgian startup developing control moment gyros and reaction wheels.
In addition to satellite deployments in low Earth orbit, Exotrail is developing a version of its tug to enable smallsats to go to geostationary orbit. The company expects a first launch of that vehicle as soon as 2026.
