September 3, 2020 at 3:51 am CEST, was an historical date for the Dutch space company Hyperion Technologies, with the launch of Vega VV16, that took 53 small satellites into space.
Arianespace’s Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept (PoC) carried, among these, three small satellites of particular interest to the Dutch space company Hyperion Technologies: ESA’s Picasso mission, the University of Maribor’s TRISAT satellite and D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier.
Increased flight heritage for Star Tracker and integrated ADCS
Two components which have been jointly developed with Berlin Space Technologies have increased their flight heritage count again, thanks to the successful launch: The ST200 star tracker and the integrated ADCS, optimised for 3U satellites.
The ST200 is part of ESA’s Picasso mission enabling the satellite to determine its attitude accurately, while the integrated ADCS is a key element to the University of Maribor’s TRISAT mission.
In Orbit demonstration for large magnetorquers
Another milestone is the first flight of Hyperion’s large magnetorquers. They are providing D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier with powerful attitude control. Originally developed for D-Orbit, Hyperion will make them available commercially to all its clients seeking for magnetic control for small satellites beyond 12U.
3D printed propulsion module in space
Hyperion’s and Dawn Aerospace’s 1U CubeSat propulsion module PM200 reached space upon the successful Vega launch. The PM200 was the first ECSS compliant 3D printed bi-propellant propulsion system to be allowed to be launched to space. It shared a ride aboard D-Orbit’s first ION Satellite Carrier.
Bert Monna, CEO of Hyperion Technologies concluded after the Vega launch, “This launch is certainly an important moment for many satellite integrators and their suppliers. Quite a number of launches experienced delays due to the pandemic. Although we at Hyperion were continuously busy, the goal remains to bring our solutions up there, into space, and to contribute to the state of the art, and eventually enable better services for users on Earth.”
