LOGAN, Utah — Sidus Space has the choice of pivoting to launching LizzieSat-1 on a rideshare mission if it might’t get security clearances in time to deploy its first satellite tv for pc from the International Space Station early subsequent yr.
The firm presently has no plans to transfer LizzieSat-1 from a cargo journey to the ISS in February, Sidus chief mission operations officer John Curry stated.
However, it’s unclear if Sidus can get all NASA approvals to add operational-life-extending thrusters to LizzieSat-1 for a cargo journey to the ISS in February.
“It’s possible we may end up deciding not to fly the thruster” Curry stated Aug. 8 in the course of the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah, in order that it might “simply get by way of the protection course of and go forward and fly.
“It’s not that we can’t get past that, but it takes a long time.”
LizzieSat-1 was beforehand slated to launch on a mission to the ISS in October earlier than NASA re-manifested it to February.
While Sidus nonetheless plans to launch LizzieSat-1 from the ISS, the corporate’s versatile enterprise deployment mannequin additionally allows it to leverage rideshare alternatives.
LizzieSat-1 is the primary of 100 satellites Sidus is planning for a constellation that might initially present in-orbit testing companies.
The 100-kilogram spacecraft had been set to use a deployer on the ISS that Sidus manages as a part of its current authorities contractor enterprise.
If deployed from the ISS with out thrusters, Curry stated LizzieSat-1 would solely present companies for round 130-200 days earlier than dropping operational altitude.
While that might nonetheless be sufficient time to display core know-how, he stated its satellites with thrusters might final 18 months to three years relying on mission necessities.
LizzieSat-1’s clients embody NASA and Mission Helios, a monetary companies startup that goals to check know-how for NFTs.
These and different future clients don’t care concerning the size of time they spend on orbit, Curry stated, and a LizzieSat with out thrusters has extra room for payloads.
However, a LizzieSat with thrusters is the usual design for the corporate’s constellation and would allow extra management over the satellite tv for pc’s de-orbit trajectory.
While a rideshare launch would doubtless come after the Feb. 19 ISS Cargo mission Sidus is presently concentrating on, getting to LEO on a rocket would doubtless ship the satellite tv for pc to orbit quicker than through the ISS, the place Curry stated it might take astronauts 30-60 days to deploy the spacecraft as soon as it arrived on the station.
For an ISS launch, he stated NASA additionally requires supply of a “fully outfitted” satellite tv for pc 10 and a half weeks earlier than launch, in contrast to 4 weeks for a rideshare mission.
That means utilizing rideshare suppliers for future satellites would give clients extra time to present the payloads they need to check on LizzieSat satellites. It would additionally guard towards the potential of provide chain delays.
Sidus is negotiating with “a number of different providers” for launching different LizzieSats later in 2023.