NorthStar Earth & Space‘s first three of the firm’s constellation of 24 satellites dedicated to commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) will be among the payloads carried by Spire Global’s satellites to be launched by Virgin Orbit — the launch is scheduled for mid-2023.
NorthStar will be the first to monitor all near-Earth orbits from space, delivering an enhanced level of SSA services to the global satellite community, with timely and precise information for resident space object detection, tracking, orbit determination, collision avoidance, navigation and proximity alerts.
“NorthStar is proud to join forces with both Spire Global and Virgin Orbit for this historic first launch, as part of a vibrant community committed to advancing innovation in the service of space sustainability and the secure growth of the space economy,” said Stewart Bain, CEO and Founder of NorthStar Earth & Space. “NorthStar is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the peaceful and sustainable use of space. We deliver valuable information that enhances the detection and precision tracking of space objects across all near-Earth orbits to support sustainability, greater safety, and confidence in space operations.”
“Virgin Orbit is delighted to play a role in this ground-breaking mission,” said Virgin Orbit CEO, Dan Hart. “The proliferation of space debris and emerging threats in orbit necessitate responsive space domain awareness via space-based platforms. By working with NorthStar and Spire to deploy this innovative technology to a precise, targeted orbit via our proven LauncherOne system, we are fulfilling Virgin Orbit’s role as an affordable responsive space provider.“
“We’re proud that NorthStar is leveraging our Space Services model and established space, ground, and web infrastructure to rapidly deploy its constellation, which is critical to tackling the pressing issue of space debris and delivering fundamental information for satellite operators,” added Joel Spark, Co-Founder and General Manager, Space Services, Spire.
NorthStar seeks to empower humanity to preserve our planet through a unique Space and Earth information & intelligence platform using space-based satellite systems. NorthStar strives to help transform the way governments, industry, and institutions assess risk, enforce regulations and make decisions to foster the sustainable development of our Earth and Space environment. NorthStar’s transformational space-based commercial Space Situational Awareness services address many of the critical and immediate challenges facing all satellite operators. Striving to improve the prospect of space sustainability, NorthStar will deliver more frequent and precise observations of resident space objects than any current system. NorthStar generates its Space Information & Intelligence services through a suite of high-speed, decision-quality information services derived from its unparalleled coverage, object custody, and enhanced predictive analytics.
