Spacemind launches three Italian Nanosatellites into orbit

Spacemind launches three Italian Nanosatellites into orbit
by Staff Writers
Bologna, Italy (SPX) Feb 03, 2023

Spacemind, the space division of Italian company NPC, has achieved great success with a series of space launches. The three Italian nanosatellites, DanteSat, Futura-SM1, and Futura-SM3, have been successfully launched into orbit. This has also validated the operation of the new SMPod cubesat deployer, on-board equipments, and a larger version of the Artica deorbiting sail.

Nicolo Benini, Marketing Manager of NPC Spacemind, stated: "We are thrilled with the initial results of these in-orbit missions, which confirm our company's position as a turnkey service provider for the production of cubesats for commercial and scientific projects. Our recent launches have solidified relationships with important Italian and foreign customers, paving the way for future space missions".

The DanteSat nanosatellite is a 3U cubesat, shaped like a small parallelepiped (with a square base measuring 10 cm on a side and a height of 30 cm). It is an original project promoted by Human Space Services for the Italian publishing house Scripta Maneant to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's death: its metal structure is in fact engraved with the Divine Comedy, while the on-board radio transmits the first verses of the work to Earth.

In November, the satellite was transported to the International Space Station by a Dragon capsule, launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9. DanteSat was then released into orbit in late December via Nanoracks Europe's external deployer. Subsequently, it opened the Artica sail and will soon burn up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

The two Futuras were launched at the beginning of January and transferred into the planned orbit by an autonomous ION Satellite Carrier Platform, manufactured by the space logistics company D-Orbit, and finally released into space via the new SMPod deployer from Spacemind. The Futura-SM1 is a 3U cubesat and is intended to test new on-board equipment (power generation system, deployable antennas, space sail and OBC on-board computer developed by partner Apogeo Space).

The Futura-SM3, on the other hand, is a 6U cubesat (equal to two 3U cubesats side-by-side) and is equipped with a new, larger Artica space sail for deorbiting the satellite at the end of the mission.

According to Benini, "all systems on board the three cubesats are working perfectly and they are receiving signals and telemetry data. The SMPod deployer also released the two Futuras into orbit, successfully meeting all mission objectives. These excellent results position Spacemind to offer reliable and innovative services on the expanding nanosatellite market".