Loft Orbital selects LeoStella to supply satellites for Space Infrastructure-as-a-Service

Loft Orbital Solutions Inc. (Loft Orbital), a Space Infrastructure-as-a-Service company, has signed a contract with LeoStella, a specialized satellite constellation design and manufacturing company, to build and integrate satellite buses for several upcoming Loft Orbital missions.

Under the contract, Seattle-area LeoStella will use its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, which opened in 2019, to produce multiple satellites based on ESPA-class buses for use in Loft Orbital's upcoming missions, including its YAM-3 and YAM-5 satellites. YAM stands for "Yet Another Mission." These buses will be nearly identical in design to the LeoStella satellite bus product line it has developed for other customers.

Loft Orbital flies customer payloads as a service, handling the entire mission on behalf of its customers while ensuring that the customer remains in control of payload operations. Loft Orbital has developed the hardware and software technologies needed to fly multiple payloads on a common bus design without mission-specific customization.

These technologies allow it to procure satellite buses in advance of knowing the payload configuration of the mission, supporting imagers and cameras, radio frequency sensors, scientific payloads for geophysical research or space science, weather and climate sensors, and specialized sensors focused on national security missions. This approach results in a service that provides unparalleled speed to orbit and reliability for Loft customers.

Loft Orbital's upcoming missions will fly a variety of customer payloads, including a demonstration for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Blackjack program, multiple Internet of Things payloads for Eutelsat, and a hyperspectral imager for the United Arab Emirates government. Loft Orbital is currently executing several YAM missions scheduled to launch throughout the next 24 months.

"Loft has developed the hardware and software product stack that enables us to fly a wide range of payloads on a standard bus design," said Pierre-Damien Vaujour, co-CEO of Loft Orbital.

"Leveraging LeoStella's existing bus architecture and its flexible production facility provides us with a reliable satellite bus twice as fast as any other vendor. That translates into massive value for our customers in the form of a faster schedule and lower program risk because we procure satellites well in advance of manifesting our missions. We couldn't be more excited for this partnership."

"Loft's innovative approach to payload configuration coupled with LeoStella's rapid manufacturing of high-quality satellites reduces the barrier of access to space," said Brian Rider, chief technology officer of LeoStella. "We are excited about this program with Loft as it demonstrates our ability to minimize the cost and reduce the time required to manufacture satellites. The road to space has never been shorter."

Both LeoStella and Loft Orbital are approaching the increasing industry demand with a similar mindset. LeoStella is leveraging its new facility, outfitted with intelligent workstations, connected tools, and unique automated integration and test approaches combined with a robust supply chain to introduce newfound flexibility and efficiency into satellite production.

Loft Orbital has developed the Payload Hub, a modular, hardware and software payload interface unit that enables it to rideshare any payload configuration on a standard satellite bus. Loft Orbital has also developed the highly automated Cockpit Mission Control System, which enables customers to task their payload without the burden of conducting mission operations.

Related Links
LeoStella
Loft Orbital
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

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