Aurora Propulsion Technologies launched the AuroraSat-1 spacecraft on the mission to test debris removal technologies.
AuroraSat-1 is a 1.5-unit cubesat developed by Aurora Propulsion Technologies in cooperation with Polish smallsat company SatRevolution.
Rocket Lab signed a contract with Aurora Propulsion Technologies on 2021-08-16 to launch the AuroraSat-1 spacecraft on an Electron in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Aurora announced in December 2020 that AuroraSat-1 was manifested to launch on the first Vigoride tug by Momentus, then scheduled to launch in January 2021 on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
The AuroraSat-1 launch agreement follows other satellites announced to fly onboard Electron, including WISA Woodsat developed by Finnish company Arctic Astronautics.
The charged microtether technology on AuroraSat-1 is intended to create electromagnetic drag that could be used to deorbit satellites.
Rocket Lab will launch AuroraSat-1 for Aurora Propulsion Technologies on an Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula in 2021-10-01 as part of a rideshare mission.
AuroraSat-1 is scheduled to launch in December 2020 onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.