Mission

Celestial Bliss

Mission Name

Celestial Bliss

Carrier Name

ION SCV Magnificent Monica

Launch Date

August 2024

Launch Site

Vandenberg

Launcher

SpaceX

Rocket

Falcon 9

Mission Status

Ongoing

Passengers

9

Satellites Onboard

5

Hosted Payloads

4

Celestial Bliss, August 2024
Celestial Bliss Mission Booklet

Mission Updates

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

UPDATE 5

August 29th, 2024

Deployment of the fourth and last Lemur-2 by Spire.

Spire's fourth and last satellite was successfully released into orbit by ION Magnificent Monica. As for the other three Lemur-2 satellites deployed during the course of Celestial Bliss, communication has been successfully established between the payload and the Spire team on ground.
Image: A graphic render of Lemur 2. Credits: Spire Inc.A graphic render of Lemur 2. Credits: Spire Inc.

UPDATE 4

August 28th, 2024

Deployment of the third Lemur-2 by Spire Inc.

ION SCV Magnificent Monica has successfully deployed the third Lemur-2 satellite into its designated orbit. The ground teams from D-Orbit and Spire have confirmed the successful acquisition of the signal.
Deployment of the third Lemur-2 satellite, by Spire Inc

UPDATE 3

August 27th, 2024

Deployment of the second Lemur-2 by Spire Inc.

ION SCV Magnificent Monica deployed the second of four Lemur-2 satellites into its operational orbit. As per the first release, D-Orbit and Spire's ground teams confirmed the successful signal acquisition.
Deployment of the second Lemur-2 satellite, by Spire Inc

UPDATE 2

August 26th, 2024

Beginning of Deployment phase: Lemur-2 by Spire Inc.

ION SCV Magnificent Monica has officially begun the commercial phase of the Celestial Bliss mission by deploying the first of four Lemur-2 satellites, by Spire Inc., into its operational orbit.

The first Lemur-2, designed to collect maritime (AIS) data and GNSS data for weather applications, is fully functional and has already established communication with the Spire team.
Deployment of Lemur-2, by Spire Inc

UPDATE 1

August 16th, 2024

Launch

Celestial Bliss, the 14th commercial mission of the ION Satellite Carrier (ION), launched on August 16th, 2024, at 11:56 PDT (18:56 UTC) from Vandenberg Space Force Base's Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) in California, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. ION SCV Magnificent Monica was successfully deployed 2h:35m after liftoff into a 597km Sun-Synchronous Orbit.

During the course of Celestial Bliss, ION will deploy five satellites and perform four in-orbit demonstrations of hosted payloads.

Our mission control team is now carrying out various tests and diagnostics to prepare for the operational phase.
Image: Credits: SpaceXCredits: SpaceX

Roadmap

PHASE 1 - COMMISSIONING

As soon as ION SCV Magnificent Monica 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 Magnificent Monica 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. In particular, ION will deploy four satellites from Spire Global UK, and one satellite from one undisclosed client. The OTV will also perform the in-orbit demonstration of a payload from TelePIX, as well as three more in-orbit demonstrations for three undisclosed clients..

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 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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