Celestia Aerospace patch.
Jan 11, 2023
With an investment of 100 million Euros by the British Invema, Celestia Aerospace is starting up its nanosatellite production center.
Celestia will launch its nanosatellites via rockets using a MIG-29
In 2023, the Barcelona-based Spanish company Celestia Aerospace plans to fly its first nanosatellites into space for their initial functional tests.
Before that, and after having signed a capitalization of 100 million euros with the British group Invema, it is starting up its production center for these with a capacity of up to 100 copies per year.
Video above: Sagitarius Airborne Launch System - MiG-29UB airborne launch platform by Celestia Aerospace. Video Credit: Celestia Aerospace.
Celestia plans to offer a "360º turnkey" service, which covers all phases of the nanosatellite life cycle, from their design and manufacture, to their launch and operation, "the company explains, and the production center is joined by , for this, "a launcher development center, and another operations center for Sagittarius, a pioneering launch system of its kind and exclusively dedicated to placing nanosatellites into orbit, both those developed by the company itself and those developed by third parties"
Celestia bets for the launch of its nanosatellites, cubes 10 cm on each side and 1 kg in weight "for the creation of constellations for Earth observation and secure communications, among other applications", by a solid fuel rocket capable of transporting up to 16 kg of payload and baptized The Space Arrow. The name comes from the fact that it will be launched from a MiG-29, which will carry the rocket up to 65,000 feet for launch. The MIG-29, a two-seater model, which would allow a representative of the company that owns the nanosatellites to fly in it together with the pilot, has been named Archer 1.
Celesstia has named its launch system Sagitarius Airborne Launch System (SALS)
Celestia is working on two versions of this rocket, one with three stages and with the capacity to place up to 16 nanosatellites in orbits up to 600 km high; and another for four nanosatellites, with two stages capable of placing them in a suborbital parabola of 10 minutes of microgravity. Each Archer flight will be able to carry two rocket launchers.
Celestia estimates that it will be able to offer a service with a maximum waiting time between launches of one week, “unlike traditional systems in which a nanosatellite waits an average of one to two years to be launched; a total priority in the mission, unlike current systems in which the nanosatellite travels as a secondary load, it is subject to the calendar and mission priorities of the main satellite with which it is launched; and flexibility in the calendar, since the launch can be delayed or brought forward at the client's request, thus being able to accommodate variations in the nanosatellite development plan”; they explain from Celestia.
Planned flight profile for Celestia launches
In addition to the aforementioned production, launch and operations centers, Celestia plans to create a foundation, “whose objective is to promote education and science in society and among young people in particular. Among other activities, the foundation will award scholarships and prizes aimed at promoting the approach of young people to science and promoting their training.
The company wants to get involved in the return to society "through involvement in the training and stimulation of young people, so that they dream and recover the vision that they were born to have no limits". In this way, with this entrepreneurial spirit with young people, from Celestia they emphasize that in their workforce expansion plans, priority will be given to "the incorporation of young people recently graduated and young people from Vocational Training, who will be trained supported by the teams of professionals from extensive experience in the sector in order to build multi-age, multicultural and multidisciplinary teams”.
Related article:
Celestia Aerospace, ready to design, build and launch nano-satellites from Spain
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2015/07/celestia-aerospace-ready-to-design.html
Related link:
Celestia Aerospace: https://celestiaaerospace.com/
Images, Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: Celestia Aerospace/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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