Mission

Second Star to the Right

Mission Name

Second Star to the Right

Carrier Name

ION SCV007 Glorious Gratia; ION SCV008 Fierce Franciscus

Launch Date

January 2023

Launch Site

Cape Canaveral

Launcher

SpaceX

Rocket

Falcon 9

Mission Status

Ongoing

Passengers

9

Satellites Onboard

9

Hosted Payloads

4

Second Star to the Right, January 2023
Second Star to the Right MISSION BOOKLET

Mission Updates

7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

UPDATE 7

March 6th, 2023

Orbit raising and deployment of Kelpie-1 by AAC Clyde Space

ION SCV007 Glorious Gratia successfully completed a 120km-orbit raising and released Kelpie-1, a 3U EPIC CubeSat designed and built by AAC Clyde Space. The spacecraft aims at delivering Automatic Identification System (AIS) data exclusively to ORBCOMM and its government and commercial customers, under an exclusive Space Data as a Service deal.

Kelpie-1, which features a proprietary low-noise bus architecture, multiple SDR payloads, and an advanced antenna concept developed by Oxford Space Systems, is healthy and fully functional.
Image: Kelpie-1 by AAC Clyde SpaceKelpie-1 by AAC Clyde Space

UPDATE 6

January 20th, 2023

Deployment of FUTURA-SM3 and testing of SMPOD12XL-3X by NPC SPACEMIND

ION SCV008 Fierce Franciscus successfully released FUTURA-SM3 into its operational orbit. The spacecraft, based on a 6U CubeSat platform designed to operate in low-earth orbit, aims at in-orbit demonstrating the NPC SPACEMIND 6U compatible deorbiting sail device.

On the same day, SMPOD12XL-3X, a device belonging to the family of NPC Spacemind CubeSat deployers, was also successfully tested.
Image: FUTURA-SM3FUTURA-SM3

UPDATE 5

January 18th, 2023

Deployment of FUTURA-SM1 by NPC SPACEMIND

ION SCV008 Fierce Franciscus successfully released into its operational orbit FUTURA-SM1.

Based on a 3U CubeSat platform designed to operate in low-earth orbit, FUTURA-SM1’s main purpose is to in-orbit demonstrate NPC SPACEMIND 3U platform along with ARTICA, an innovative deorbiting sail device whose aim is to highly accelerate the orbital decaying time, offering a solution to the problem of space debris.

D-Orbit's mission team confirmed the acquisition of the signal and wishes FUTURA-SM1 good luck with its mission.

Image: FUTURA-SM1FUTURA-SM1

UPDATE 4

January 16th, 2023

Deployment of Sharjah-Sat-1

ION SCV008 Fierce Franciscus successfully released into orbit Sharjah-Sat-1, a 3U+ improved X-Ray detector (iXRD), with the objective of detecting hard X-rays from very bright X-ray sources. The secondary payload is a dual-camera system for Earth imaging, which will be used to image the SAASST building with a size of about 100m.

D-Orbit's mission team confirmed the acquisition of the signal and wishes Sharjah-Sat-1 good luck with its mission.
Image: Sharjah-Sat-1Sharjah-Sat-1

UPDATE 3

January 12th, 2023

Deployment of Tausat-2 by Tel Aviv University (TAU)

Tausat-2, a 2U satellite by Tel Aviv University (TAU), onboard ION SCV008 Fierce Franciscus via a contract with ISISPACE Group, was successfully released.

Tausat-2, which was developed using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, carries a science payload of Light Emitting Diodes that will be used to conduct a peaceful scientific experiment by in the optical tracking of miniature objects in space. The satellite includes also an S-band transmitter aimed at demonstrating a novel communication protocol suggested by TAU in various signal-to-noise regimes.

D-Orbit's mission team confirmed the acquisition of the signal and wishes Tausat-2 good luck with its mission.
Image: Tausat-2Tausat-2

UPDATE 2

January 4th, 2023

Beginning of Leop and commissioning phase

After acquiring the signal just a few hours after separation from Falcon9, the D-Orbit's operation team started performing all actions and procedures required by the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and Commissioning phase.​

Once the commissioning phase will be complete, ION will start to deploy the passengers onboard in their desired orbits.

Video credits: SpaceX
Video credits: SpaceX

UPDATE 1

January 3rd, 2023

Launch

Second Star to the Right, the seventh mission of the ION Satellite Carrier (ION), launched on January 3, at 9:56 a.m. ET (14:56 UTC) from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), Florida, aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-6 mission. 

Second Star to the Right is the first mission carrying to space two IONs on a single launch. The two spacecraft were successfully deployed 01h 24m and 01h 26m after lift-off into a 525-kilometer Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

Second Star to the Right includes the deployment of a total of nine satellites, from NPS Spacemind, Astrocast, Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and the Tel Aviv University (both onboard through a contract with ISIS Space), and AAC Clyde Space (for Orbcomm). The mission also includes in orbit validation of third-party hosted payloads by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Genergo, Cryptosat and a hosted payload from an undisclosed customer.

Image: Credits: SpaceXCredits: SpaceX

Roadmap

PHASE 1 - COMMISSIONING

As soon as ION SCV007 Glorious Gratia and SCV008 Fierce Franciscus reach orbit, our spacecraft operations engineers establish a bidirectional communication channel. We then 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, ORBITAL TRANSPORTATION AND HOSTED PAYLOAD DEMONSTRATION

Once concluded the commissioning phase, ION SCV007 Glorious Gratia and ION SCV008 Fierce Franciscus will start the commercial phase of the mission, which will consist in the deployment of the hosted satellites and the in-orbit demonstration of third-party payloads hosted onboard.  

Throughout the mission, ION SCV007 and SCV008 will deploy a total of nine satellites from NPC Spacemind, Astrocast, Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and the Tel Aviv University (both onboard through a contract with ISIS Space), and AAC Clyde Space (for Orbcomm) and perform the in-orbit demonstration of four hosted payloads: DRAGO-2, a compact SWIR camera developed by Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias for Earth observation from space; Genergo-2, a new type of space propulsion system developed by Genergo; Cryptosat-2, the enhanced version of a prototype nanosatellite developed by Cryptosat for secure cryptographic applications; and a hosted payload from an undisclosed customer. 

In order to release the satellites into the precise operational orbital slots required by customers, both ION 007 and ION 008 will perform a series of complex orbital maneuvers.

PHASE 3 - DECOMMISSIONING

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

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