Alba Orbital Launching Six PocketQubes on Board SpaceX’s Transporter-8 Mission
Alba Orbital’s fifth orbital launch campaign is scheduled to launch on June 12th 2023 at 21:19 UTC from Vandenberg AFB, California.
Glasgow, Scotland – June 12, 2023 – Alba Orbital, a leading provider of small satellite launch services, today announced the successful launch of six PocketQube satellites on board SpaceX’s Transporter-8 mission. SpaceX’s Transporter-8 mission is scheduled to launch at 21:19 UTC from Vandenberg AFB, California.
On board this flight, Alba Orbital will be flying two AlbaPods. Albapods are satellite deployers specifically designed by Alba Orbital for PocketQube satellites, supporting various formats from 1p (5x5x5cm) to 3p (5x5x15cm). Onboard this mission, the AlbaPods are hosting the following PocketQube satellites:
Alba Orbital - UNICORN-2I
UNICORN-2I is part of Alba Orbitals flagship Earth Observation pico-satellite constellation dedicated to monitoring artificial light at night (ALAN) across the globe. The 3P PocketQube satellite will provide high resolution imagery of the earth at night, enabling tracking of applications such as light pollution, urbanization, greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage from space.
ARIEL UNIVERSITY - SATLLA-2I
Satlla-2I is the latest PocketQube satellite from Ariel University. The educational platform is being used for testing concepts of Free Space Optical Communication.
HELLO SPACE - ISTANBUL
Istanbul is Hello Space’s first PocketQube satellite. The test satellite will provide a foundation for worldwide, uninterrupted and powerful IoT data service at low cost. Services such as tracing the motion of cargo containers, remote monitoring of several variables as temperature, humidity levels of industrial equipment and tracking agricultural output to secure efficient supply chain management are all part of this smallsat’s portfolio.
BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS - MRC-100
A 3P PocketQube mission by Budapest University of Technology and Economics, MRC-100 is the continuation of SMOG-P and ATL-1 (previously flown by Alba Orbital) spectrum monitoring PocketQube class satellites with wider monitored spectrum range 30MHz- 2600 MHz, focused on HAM, ISM and
broadcasting bands, made by university students, integrated into the higher education.
AMSAT-EA - URESAT-1
URESAT-1 is the latest iteration of the GENESIS pico-satellite platform used by AMSAT-EA missions with the engineering support from Hydra Space, a company also based in Madrid. URESAT-1 will incorporate an FM voice and an FSK data repeater with store and forward capability, used to relay frames such as the ones on APRS, an IoT network for amateur radio use. All functionalities will be open so anybody with a proper license will be able to use and experiment with them.
INTERNATIONAL COMPUTER HIGH SCHOOL OF BUCHAREST - ROM-2
Rom-2 is a 1P PocketQube satellite built by students from the International Computer High School of Bucharest.The satellite is equipped with a 2MP camera onboard that will take images of the earth and will enable amateur operators as a digital repeater.
PocketQube spacecraft are the smallest commercial satellites in the world, measuring at just 5 centimeters on a side. They are designed to be affordable and easy to launch, making them accessible to a wider range of users. If you are thinking of launching your own satellites, get in touch with our launch team today at contact@albaorbital.com.
About Alba Orbital
Founded in 2012, Alba Orbital from Glasgow, Scotland, is the world’s leading PocketQube satellite manufacturer and launch broker. To date, Alba launch has successfully deployed 25 PocketQube satellites into orbit including the Unicorn-2 platform. Unicorn-2 is the world’s most capable Picosat by specification. Alba also offers ground station services via their Albaconnect platform enabling an
end-to-end service to newspace users and operators.