SBIR/STTR Award attributes
New large launch vehicles such as Starship (formerly BFR) and New Glenn, will be well positioned to deliver large numbers of small satellites to low earth or medium earth orbit. But these new services will not be able to place large number of satellites in different orbit planes within a single launch. It would also be impractical and cost-prohibitive to have satellites under 500 kgs carry high power thrusters to perform the necessary maneuvers. The most economical approach to fast, low-cost deployment of small satellite constellations is to use a low-cost satellite shuttle service to complete satellite plane transfers and other orbital adjustments once the launch vehicle has reached low-earth orbit (LEO) or medium-earth orbit (MEO). Momentus’ low-cost Satellite Shuttle Service could more than halve the CAPEX required to launch and maintain LEO constellations. The new service could also be used to reduce on-orbit sparing by providing the ability to park satellites in orbit for later deployment into any needed orbit plane in a satellite constellation.
