SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PLSV-C23) rocket launched earlier today carrying the French SPOT-7 earth observation satellite as its primary payload and five small satellites as its secondary payload including two nanosats from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) Space Flight Laboratory.
The two UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory satellites were CanX-4 and CanX-5 and are a pair of identical nanosatellites. According to the Space Flight Lab “their primary mission is the demonstration of on-orbit formation flying. In this context, formation flying is defined as two or more satellites controlling their position and orientation with respect to one another to achieve a predefined configuration necessary for coordinated operations.”
CanX-4 and CanX-5 nanosats. Credit UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory.
Also on the Indian rocket were nanosats from Germany’s AISSat-1 and Singapore’s two-satellite experiment VELOX-1.
