Albedo announced its second mission to ultra-low Earth orbit (VLEO) called Vicinity, the launch of which is planned for 2027 year.
Here are the key features of this new mission and platform:
New Vicinity platform: Unlike the first satellite Clarity-1 (Precision base), which had built-in solar panels, Vicinity is equipped with deployable solar panels.
High power: This upgrade allows you to generate significantly more energy, which is necessary for an energy-consuming payload, such as synthetic aperture radars (SAR) and electromagnetic warfare and communication systems.
Robustness to VLEO environment: Despite the presence of large panels, the design of the satellite is developed taking into account the aggressive environment — strong atmospheric resistance and the influence of atomic oxygen at lower altitudes 300 km.
Changing the business model: Albedo is gradually transforming from an image provider to a manufacturer of satellite platforms (bus), offering its solutions to other operators for military and commercial needs.
This mission is to demonstrate, that not only compact optical telescopes can work in VLEO, and heavy energy-intensive systems, which were previously considered too bulky for such low altitudes.
Source: https://spacenews.com