Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTS), a U.S. commercial space company that offers transportation and other in-space infrastructure services, has completed the integration of its Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV) on the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle that will be used for the Transporter-6 mission targeted for launch in December.
This flight will mark Momentus’ second demonstration mission of its Vigoride OSV. Mission priorities include hosting Caltech’s Space-based Solar Power Project payload, deploying Qosmosys’ Zeus-1 payload, and testing Vigoride’s performance in space.
“We aim to provide the infrastructure services to advance how humanity uses and explores space,” said Momentus Chief Executive Officer John Rood. “Like the early railroads, highways, and commercial air travel connected people and ideas and enabled movement and growth, space infrastructure will enable the same. Our second demonstration mission is the next step of many to come as we work toward bringing reliable space infrastructure services to market to support energy needs on Earth and in space, communications, remote sensing, and sustainability initiatives like debris removal.”
Both the Vigoride OSV and its Microwave Electrothermal Thruster (MET) are next-generation systems that are enhanced from the previous versions that flew on the Company’s first demonstration mission earlier this year.
“We made improvements to our systems following continued ground testing, and after applying the lessons we learned from our first mission,” said Rood. “Our goal is to put our latest Orbital Service Vehicle through its paces in space, test its capabilities, and add more experience with how our technology performs in space so we can continue to improve our systems to meet the future needs of our customers.”
