Satellite dispenser

A satellite dispenser is a space tug usually released from the upper stage (sometimes called kick stage) of a rocket and designed to fly small secondary payloads to their desired location before deploying them.

Project West Ford launched 480,000,000 needles in space in 1961 and 1963 using a dispenser.[1]

The company Moog Inc. launched a satellite dispenser on a Falcon 9 rocket on 14 July 2014, placing 6 Orbcomm satellites in orbit.[2]

SHERPA is a satelltite dispenser first launched on 3 December 2018 on a rideshare mission called SSO-A: SmallSat Express. The two SHERPA dispensers placed a number of 64 satellites, after separating from the Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket once it entered a polar Sun-synchronous orbit around 575 kilometers above Earth.[3][4][5]

Canisterized Satellite Dispenser is a satellite dispenser created by Planetary Systems Corp, launched on 17 April 2019 with the Cygnus NG-11 mission.[6][7][8]

ION CubeSat Carrier is a satellite dispenser launched on 3 September 2020 on a Vega rocket, mission Vega flight VV16, and carried 12 SuperDove satellites from Planet Labs.

See also

Notes
  1. https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/westford.htm
  2. Inc, Moog. "Moog has shipped the Satellite Dispenser to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to support ORBCOMM Generation 2 satellites". www.moog.com.
  3. Sorensen, Jodi (6 August 2018). "Spaceflight prepares historic launch of more than 70 spacecraft aboard SpaceX Falcon9". Spaceflight Industries. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  4. Introducing SSO-A: The Smallsat Express. Spaceflight Industries. Accessed: 17 November 2018.
  5. Spaceflight preps for first launch of unique orbiting satellite deployers. Stephern Clarke, Spaceflight Now. 23 August 2018.
  6. Krebs, Gunter. "ThinSat 1A, ..., 1L". Gunter's Space Page.
  7. "Will ThinSats inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists?". SpaceNews. 21 February 2018.
  8. "6U Canisterized Satellite Dispenser". 17 August 2011.


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