Pixxel Enters Service
Agreement with Momentus for
Second Satellite Launch
September 22, 2020
Momentus Inc. and Pixxel, a
Bengaluru headquartered space-tech startup,
announced the execution of a service agreement
for delivering Pixxel’s second smallsat to SSO
orbit in December 2021 onboard a SpaceX Falcon-9
launch, as well as options to fly again in
2022.
Pixxel is building a
constellation of cutting-edge earth imaging
small satellites that can provide
real-time remote sensing data across the world.
The Momentus Shuttle Service will provide a
rideshare for multiple Pixxel spacecraft to
predefined orbits.
Founded in 2019 by then 21
year olds, Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal,
Pixxel satellites
will help make the world a more sustainable
place through highly accurate data-based
insights
in agriculture, climate change, forestry and
other domains. Pixxel recently raised a funding
of
$5M, which the company is using to rapidly build
and launch the second satellite with
Momentus’ help.
Commenting on the
agreement, Awais Ahmed, Founder and CEO, Pixxel
said, “We are excited
to partner with Momentus to get our satellites
up in orbit as soon as we can and get the data
in
the hands of our customers. Momentus’ launch and
in-space transfer services provide us with
the flexibility to get to the orbit we want,
even on a rideshare mission. We look forward to
working with them to help make space more
accessible.”
“Pixxel is doing something
innovative that hasn’t been done in India or the
West,” said Mikhail
Kokorich, CEO of Momentus. “With a shared belief
in humanity’s expansion in space via in-situ
resources, we wish this mission the ultimate
success.”
Momentus has gained
significant traction since its founding in 2017,
attracting dozens of
customers ranging from private commercial space
companies to the likes of Lockheed Martin
and NASA, and penning important industry
partnerships, most notably with SpaceX. Momentus
employs new and proprietary technologies,
including water plasma propulsion to enable
revolutionary low-cost orbital Shuttle and
Charter services. The Charter Service will allow
dedicated capacity to be allocated to a single
customer’s payload. In the Shuttle Service
model,
the payload will be a rideshare along with other
payloads hosted or deployed from the Vigoride
transfer vehicle.
