SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
After Virgin Orbit recently folded, NorthStar Earth & Space was in need of a new launch provider to get its first group of satellites launched this year. Today they announced that Rocket Lab would be their ride to space.
NorthStar, based out of Montreal, is a space-based situational awareness startup developing an initial constellation of 24 16U microsatellites.
The first four satellites will be launched by Rocket Lab this fall, no earlier than September from New Zealand. The satellites were assembled and will be operated by Spire Global. Originally, Virgin Orbit was to have launched 3 satellites “mid-year.” So it appears NorthStar isn’t facing much of a delay after Virgin Orbit failed.
In a press release NorthStar stated that they had “reacted swiftly in finding a launch solution and acquiring the services of Rocket Lab after the failure of the previous launcher in the fast-moving space sector. Rocket Lab and Spire have underlined their engagement by committing to deliver the satellites to space on an accelerated timeline.”
NorthStar bills itself as “the first commercial service to monitor all near-Earth orbits from space.” And that their “unparalleled suite of high-speed information services accurately tracks and predicts the position of space objects to enable safety in spaceflight.”
Earlier this year the company announced that they had closed a $47 million Series C round of financing.
