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Spaceflight Inc. Prepares to
Launch Its 50th Mission
April 21, 2022
Spaceflight Inc. is preparing
for its 50th mission, which will launch aboard a
Rocket Lab Electron no earlier than April 22. The
RL-9 mission, called “There and Back Again,” is
scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex
1 in New Zealand. Following this launch, Spaceflight
will have successfully launched 448 spacecraft
across 50 missions across a global network of launch
vehicles.
“Our 50th launch represents our
persistent innovation and commitment to our
customers’ success over the last decade,” said Curt
Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight. “Throughout
the years, we’ve continued to provide reliable and
flexible launch and in-space transportation
services, pioneering rideshare solutions and
expanding mission opportunities to our customers.
2022 is set to be a monumental year for Spaceflight
and we are thrilled to execute more groundbreaking
missions on behalf of our customers.”
Spaceflight has already had a
busy year with notable wins, having launched 32
payloads across five missions, including its first
launch with Astra in March. Also earlier this year,
NASA selected Spaceflight to provide launch services
for the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of
Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) missions. The company
also signed a multi-launch agreement with long-time
IoT constellation customer Astrocast to provide
ongoing launch services. In addition, Spaceflight
has been recognized for numerous awards, including
being named Via Satellite’s 10 Hottest Companies of
2022; its break-through Sherpa orbital transfer
vehicle (OTV) has been recognized as a finalist in
GeekWire Awards’ Innovation of the Year Award and
Via Satellite’s Technology of the Year Award.
Additionally, Spaceflight will
lean on the learnings from its successful launches
of Sherpa in 2021, to launch OTVs on a number of
upcoming SpaceX missions this year. Spaceflight
successfully launched three Sherpa OTVs last year,
deploying more than 50 customer spacecraft and
launching the industry’s first electric OTV.
In 2022, Spaceflight plans to
execute 15 missions and debut the next two
variations in its Sherpa OTV program – Sherpa-AC,
which augments the base Sherpa model with key
capabilities, including a flight computer, attitude
knowledge & control, and an electrical power system,
and Sherpa-ES, which will launch aboard the
much-anticipated lunar slingshot mission, GEO
Pathfinder.
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