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Momentus Signs Contract with
Australian Research Centre to Place Satellite in Orbit
November 28, 2022
Momentus Inc. has signed a contract
with the CUAVA Training Centre at the University of
Sydney to deploy the CUAVA-2 CubeSat in low-Earth orbit
in October 2023.
CUAVA is the Australian Research
Council Training Centre for CubeSats, Uncrewed Aerial
Vehicles, and their Applications. CUAVA is a partnership
centered at the University of Sydney that aims to
fundamentally change the capabilities and applications
of CubeSats to create major commercial value with wide
applications.
“Momentus is proud to partner with
CUAVA, a leading Australian research center,” said
Momentus Chief Executive Officer John Rood. “Innovation
and pushing the boundaries of technology is what we love
to do at Momentus. We look forward to supporting CUAVA’s
mission to use leading edge capabilities in space to
improve life on Earth.”
CUAVA-2
CUAVA-2 is a 6U CubeSat with two
primary payloads: (1) a Hyperspectral Imager developed
by the Space Photonics group (SAIL) in the School of
Physics at the University of Sydney to demonstrate a
novel imager and provide high resolution spatial and
spectral data for applications across agriculture and
forestry, coastal and marine environments, urban areas,
water hazards and mineral exploration; and (2) a GPS
Reflectometry payload developed by the Australian Centre
for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) at the University
of New South Wales. CUAVA-2 will be the second satellite
to be launched by CUAVA, targeted for deployment from a
Momentus Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle that will
launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
CUAVA-2 also carries multiple
secondary payloads and technology demonstrations,
including the Charge Exchange Thruster (CXT), the wide
field-of-view CROSS star tracker, the Electron Density
and Debris Instrument (EDDI), the Electro Permanent
Magnetorquer, the Perovskites in Orbit Test (Port)
payload of advanced solar cells, and a Radiation Counter
and Data over Power-bus payload. These payloads were
developed at the University of Sydney.
“The CUAVA-2 CubeSat is the
culmination of several years of hard work by the
satellite team and our partners,” said CUAVA Director
Professor Iver Cairns. “We are looking forward with
great excitement to the launch with Momentus, and to
gathering unique data from the many advanced payloads
and technology demonstrators on CUAVA-2 once in orbit.”
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