We are pleased to announce the end of the mission and re-entry of Unicorn-2C (NOOR 1B), Alba’s first Unicorn spacecraft to make orbit. The spacecraft successfully deployed its quadruple deployable solar panel and the customer operator confirmed reception of spacecraft signal. This is a great first step in space, moving the system to TRL-9.

While this was an experimental mission, we are proud to reach this milestone and look forward to upgrading Unicorn-2.0 to our Unicorn-2.1 architecture for new customers.

Achievements of the mission

First Picosat or Nanosat to successfully deploy quadruple deployable solar panels
First PocketQube to deploy a solar panel
First operational 3p PocketQube in history
Validation of Unicorn subsystems: Structure, Thermal, Backplane (OBC/EPS), Alba Radio, Unicorn OS (Software),
System moves from TRL-8 to TRL-9.
First full spacecraft delivered in-orbit to a commercial customer
FCC licensed, demonstrating route to license PocketQube in the US.
Contract kickoff to in-orbit deployment in under 1 year

Missions stats

Time on Orbit: 123 days (4 months, 1 day)

TLEs: 288

Average TLEs per day: 2.34

TLEs average update rate: 10 hrs 15 minutes

Injection Orbit Albapod: 403 x 348km, 97 degrees incl.

Learn more about using Unicorn-2 for your upcoming mission