An Arianespace Vega launch vehicle with 53 satellites including three from Canada launched late this evening from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The launch had been delayed over a year as a result of the failed launch of the preceding Vega VV15 mission in July of 2019, then the pandemic, and finally the weather.
At approximately 10:45 pm ET mission control confirmed the deployment of the first seven microsatellites including the Canadian satellites GHGSat-C1 for GHGSat and ESAIL for exactEarth.
Following the deployment of the microsatellites are 46 smaller nanosatellites including TARS for Kepler Communications. At the time of publication the deployment of the 46 nanosatellites had yet to occur.
Arianespace tweeted the following animation showing the timeline of satellite deployment.
#Vega will deliver its payload of 53 small satellites during a flight sequence lasting 1 hour and 44 minutes from liftoff to final separation. #VV16 pic.twitter.com/emuLx0iHME — Arianespace (@Arianespace) September 3, 2020
Toronto based Space Flight Laboratory is the manufacturer of GHGSat-C1 as well NEMO-HD for the Slovenian Centre of Excellence for Space Sciences and Technologies which was also launched on this mission.
The Canadian satellites
GHGSat-C1 (Iris) for GHGSat
GHGSat-C1 is the first commercial microsatellite in a planned constellation being built for GHGSat Inc. of Montreal. GHGSat-C1 will monitor greenhouse gases emitted from sources on the ground. To detect and measure point emissions, such as area fugitive sources and stacks, it will require fine ground target tracking capability. This involves an onboard sensor pointing precisely at a target on the ground while the satellite slews in orbit to remain fixed on the spot for a certain period. Each GHGSat satellite provides periodic, high-precision measurements of emissions from thousands of such sites.
GHGSat-C1 (Iris) will be commissioned quickly. “Based on our experience with GHGSat-D (Claire) – likely only 2 weeks” said CEO Stephane Germain.
The company will also launch GHGSat-C2 (Hugo) later this year.
ESAIL for exactEarth
ESAIL is the first commercial microsatellite developed under ESA’s SAT-AIS program for tracking ships. ESAIL is part of ESA’s Partnership Projects, involving exactEarth as a mission operator and LuxSpace Sarl as the prime contractor. ESAIL’s mission is to enhance the next generation of space-based services for the maritime sector.
TARS for Kepler Communications
TARS is the third and last Internet of Things (IoT) demonstration satellite Kepler will launch. The company will launch its first generation (Gen-1) of commercial satellites starting in September. A total of four Gen-1 satellites are expected to launch on two Russian launch vehicles, one in September and the other in October. This will be followed by several more on a SpaceX rideshare mission later this year.