Tyvak International Completes Test Readiness Review of the Milani Nano Satellite
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The nanosatellite designed by Tyvak International, Terran Orbital’s international arm, will support the European Space Agency’s Hera Mission
Milani is a CubeSat developed by Tyvak International SRL, devoted to the visual inspection and dust detection of Didymos asteroid following DART impact. More info under https://tyvak.eu/missions/milani/ (Photo: Business Wire)
As part of the world’s first test of asteroid deflection, following the successful impact of NASA’s DART spacecraft on asteroid Dimorphos, Hera will perform a detailed post-impact survey turning the experiment into a well-understood and repeatable planetary defense technique. To achieve its objectives Hera will be utilizing new technologies from autonomous navigation around an asteroid to low-gravity proximity operations. Hera will be humankind’s first probe to rendezvous with a binary asteroid system and Europe’s flagship Planetary Defender.
Milani, named after Professor Andrea Milani, the pioneer of asteroid risk analysis who came up with the original double-spacecraft Don Quijote mission concept from which the DART-Hera missions were derived, is a companion nanosatellite of Hera, carried by the mothercraft along the journey to Didymos, and ultimately released in its proximity. Milani’s instruments are the ASPECT hyperspectral imager (by VTT,
Tyvak International is part of the Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) (“Terran Orbital” or the “Company”), a global leader in satellite-based solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries. “Terran Orbital is proud of Tyvak International’s successful achievement of the Test Readiness Review,” said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell. “We are honored by the trust placed in Tyvak International by ESA, and we look forward to continuing to design, build, deliver, and operate cutting-edge satellite solutions for missions, like Hera Mission.”
“We’ve always been proud to be part of such a challenging mission and the Test Readiness Review is a crucial milestone for the program,” said Tyvak International’s VP of Programs and Milani Program Manager Margherita Cardi. “In the last months we assembled the satellite and saw it taking shape day after day; It was a very exciting and emotional phase for me and the whole team.”
“Admiring the Milani spacecraft fully integrated brings lots of emotions that pay off the tens of thousands of hours of cutting edge engineering efforts,” said ESA Hera Project Manager Ian Carnelli. “Tyvak International has proved unprecedented commitment to bring this project from blueprints to reality, we can’t wait for the environmental test campaign to be completed and start testing with the Hera spacecraft. One step closer to Didymos.”
The next main step for Milani Satellite is the execution of the Environmental Test Campaign at Laboratorio di Qualifica Spaziale of CIRA (Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali, Capua,
About Tyvak International
Tyvak International, a Terran Orbital Corporation, is a leading European nano and microsatellite provider, based in
About Terran Orbital
Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of satellite products primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries. Terran Orbital provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and on-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. Learn more at www.terranorbital.com.
Disclaimer: Please note that the view expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency.
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Source: Terran Orbital
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