Mission

Ascend

Mission Name

Ascend

Carrier Name

ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel

Launch Date

January 2025

Launch Site

Vandenberg

Launcher

SpaceX

Rocket

Falcon 9

Mission Status

Ongoing

Passengers

4

Satellites Onboard

1

Hosted Payloads

3

Ascend, January 2025
Ascend Mission Booklet

Mission Updates

2. 1.

UPDATE 2

January 22nd, 2025

Beginning of Commercial phase: Activation of AlbaPod PocketQube satellite deployers

ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel successfully activated the two Alba Orbital 6P PocketQube satellite deployers.

The deployers released into orbit 7 PocketQube satellites: SKYLINK-1 & SKYLINK-2, HYPE AGH, PROMETHEUS-, POQUITO, HADES-R and HYDRA-T.
Image: AlbaPod 1, by Alba OrbitalAlbaPod 1, by Alba Orbital

UPDATE 1

January 14th, 2025

Launch

Ascend, the 16th commercial mission of the ION Satellite Carrier (ION), was launched on January 14, 2025, at 11:09 a.m. PT (07:09 PM UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel successfully separated 1 hour, 11 minutes, and 42 seconds after liftoff, entering a Sun-Synchronous Orbit at approximately 510 km altitude.

During the course of the Ascend mission, ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel will deploy one satellite and conduct three in-orbit demonstrations of hosted payloads.

The same Falcon 9 rocket also carried ION SCV Amazing Antonius, another member of the ION Satellite Carrier fleet, which will undertake the 15th commercial mission, Endless Sky.

Our mission control team is currently performing various tests and diagnostics to prepare for the operational phase.

Image: Photo Credit: SpaceXPhoto Credit: SpaceX

Roadmap

PHASE 1 - COMMISSIONING

As soon as ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel reaches orbit, our spacecraft operations engineers will establish a bidirectional communication channel and start the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP), neutralizing the rotation imparted by the launch vehicle during separation, correcting the attitude, testing the satellites' subsystems, and preparing for the next phases.

PHASE 2 - COMMERCIAL PHASE, HOSTED PAYLOAD DEMONSTRATION

Once concluded the commissioning phase, ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel will start the commercial phase of the mission, which will consist in the deployment of the hosted satellites and the in-orbit demonstration of the third-party payloads hosted onboard. For this mission, ION will deploy one satellite and perform three in-orbit demonstrations of hosted payloads.

PHASE 3 - DECOMMISSIONING

At the end of the mission, the platform will join the fleet of IONs already in orbit and operated by the company. At the end of its life, the spacecraft will be decommissioned in compliance with the Space Debris Mitigation guidelines. The pressure vessels will be depleted from leftover fuel and oxidizer, the battery charging system will be deactivated, and the batteries will be completely discharged. The spacecraft, now inert, will enter a decommissioning trajectory that will bring it to burn up upon atmospheric re-entry within a few years.

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