One of the slots reserved is for the Transporter-6 mission, which is targeted for October 2022
Momentus signs multiple launch agreements with SpaceX. (Credit: Steve Jurvetson/Wikipedia.org)
Momentus, an American commercial space company, revealed signing multiple launch agreements with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
Through the agreements, the company has reserved slots on four upcoming SpaceX Transporter missions. These include the Transporter-6 mission, which is targeted for October 2022, Transporter-7 slated for January 2023, Transporter-8 targeted for April 2023, and the Transporter-9 mission targeted for October 2023.
Momentus is planning to offer transportation and other in-space infrastructure services, which include in-space transportation, in-orbit services, and hosted payloads.
According to the company, the slot reservations add to a launch services agreement signed last year for the SpaceX Transporter-5 mission, which is aimed to be launched in June 2022.
Momentus CEO John Rood said: “Our agreements with SpaceX establish a regular launch cadence for Momentus as we bring our initial services to market.
“We’ll use these flight opportunities to demonstrate the capabilities of our Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle, deliver customers to orbit, and continue the development of new technologies to expand our service offerings at lower costs.”
Subject to receipt of the required government licenses and approvals, the space company intends to fly its inaugural Vigoride demonstration flight on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-5 mission.
Recently, the Vigoride spacecraft, as part of its preparation for the flight, had completed thermal vacuum testing (TVAC), which is said to closely simulate the space environment.
Momentus said that its team is now carrying out follow-on testing of specific vehicle components for addressing the few anomalies identified during TVAC testing.
Besides, the Vigoride spacecraft is being prepared for vibration testing for verifying that all systems are ready for the launch environment. Vibration testing is the last stage of the ground test campaign prior to the shipping of the vehicle to the launch service provider for flight.