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Amber

retired
Technology DemonstrationsuborbitalLaunched 1/9/2023
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Mission & Launch
Launch Mission
Launch 2023-F01
Launch Vehicle
LauncherOne
Launch Date
1/9/2023
Last Contact
1/9/2023
Orbit & Mass
Orbit Class
suborbital
Altitude
-2,198.5 km
Inclination
97.5 deg
Dry Mass
10 kg
Total Mass
10 kg
Payload Classification
Mission Type
Technology Demonstration
Payload Category
TECH
Payload Class
D
Organizations
Operator
Satellite Applications Catapult
Manufacturer
AAC Clyde Space
Registry
Track
Mentions
55
All verified mentions of this spacecraft in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

Amber McIntyre is Senior Director of Civil Space at the Aerospace Industries Association and previously held roles at NASA, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and the Executive Office of the Vice President.

GovernanceValue 2.5Feb 23, 2026Celebrating Women in Satellite 2026

In July 2024, the ILR-33 Amber 2K, developed by the Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation, became the first domestically built Polish rocket to reach space.

General
Page1of3
Capability
Value 4.0
Nov 25, 2025
Polish Consortium Successfully Tests Three-Stage Suborbital Rocket

The ILR-33 Amber 2K was launched from the Andøya Space Centre in Norway and reached an altitude of 101 kilometres, powered by a hybrid core stage and two solid-fuel boosters.

CapabilityValue 5.0Nov 25, 2025Polish Consortium Successfully Tests Three-Stage Suborbital Rocket

Poland’s Łukasiewicz Institute of Aviation launched the ILR-33 Amber 2K, the country’s first rocket to cross the Kármán line and reach space, in July 2024.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Oct 4, 2025SpaceForest Aims to Capture 70% of European Demand for Suborbital Flights

The Amber™ Phoenix Mission satellite will be the first of a proposed constellation of more than 20 Amber™ payloads on-orbit to provide worldwide RF data to the JMSC and other customers with 30-minute latency.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Nov 1, 2023Horizon Technologies recently awarded million£ grant from the UK Space Agency

The Amber™ Phoenix Mission will launch another Amber™ RF electro-optical payload into orbit in mid-2024.

PlanCapabilityValue 3.0Nov 1, 2023Horizon Technologies recently awarded million£ grant from the UK Space Agency

Horizon Technologies was awarded a £1.2 million grant by the UK Space Agency as part of a £2.8 million Amber™ Phoenix Mission program.

RelationshipsFinancialValue 4.8Nov 1, 2023Horizon Technologies recently awarded million£ grant from the UK Space Agency

Horizon Technologies’ original Amber™ payload was on one of eight smallsats lost in Virgin Orbit’s failed LauncherOne mission on 2023-01-09.

PlanGeneralValue 3.0Nov 1, 2023Horizon Technologies recently awarded million£ grant from the UK Space Agency

Some Amber™ payloads will be integrated into and deployed on electro-optical and SAR satellite constellations to provide tip-and-cue capabilities to end users.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.0Nov 1, 2023Horizon Technologies recently awarded million£ grant from the UK Space Agency

The lost Horizon Technologies Amber™ payload flight was part of the Satellite Applications Catapult IOD-3 Program for which Horizon Technologies was competitively selected in 2019.

RelationshipsGeneralValue 4.0Nov 1, 2023Horizon Technologies recently awarded million£ grant from the UK Space Agency

The Amber Phoenix Mission satellite is to be the first of a proposed constellation of over twenty Amber payloads in orbit to provide worldwide RF data to the JMSC and other customers with 30-minute latency.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Oct 23, 2023UK Space Agency Awards £1.2 Million Grant to Horizon Technologies for Amber Phoenix Mission

Some Amber payloads will be integrated and deployed on Earth observation (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellations to provide tip-and-cue capabilities to end users.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.2Oct 23, 2023UK Space Agency Awards £1.2 Million Grant to Horizon Technologies for Amber Phoenix Mission

Horizon Technologies’ original Amber payload was on one of eight small satellites lost in the Virgin Orbit failed launch on 9 January 2023 when LauncherOne failed to reach the proper orbit.

GeneralCapabilityValue 4.0Oct 23, 2023UK Space Agency Awards £1.2 Million Grant to Horizon Technologies for Amber Phoenix Mission

The £1.2 million UK Space Agency grant to Horizon Technologies is part of a £2.8 million program called the Amber Phoenix Mission.

FinancialRelationshipsPlanValue 4.0Oct 23, 2023UK Space Agency Awards £1.2 Million Grant to Horizon Technologies for Amber Phoenix Mission

The Amber Phoenix Mission will launch another Amber RF Earth observation payload into orbit in mid-2024.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Oct 23, 2023UK Space Agency Awards £1.2 Million Grant to Horizon Technologies for Amber Phoenix Mission

The lost Amber payload launch was part of the Satellite Applications Catapult IOD-3 Programme for which Horizon Technologies was competitively selected in 2019.

RelationshipsGeneralValue 3.6Oct 23, 2023UK Space Agency Awards £1.2 Million Grant to Horizon Technologies for Amber Phoenix Mission

Amber IOD-3 was originally due to launch with Virgin Orbit in July 2022 but was delayed while the launcher sought permission to fly from the United Kingdom.

PlanLegalValue 4.0Oct 19, 2023UK funds surveillance satellite replacement lost in Virgin Orbit failure

Horizon Technologies envisages a constellation of more than 20 Amber payloads in low Earth orbit to provide worldwide RF data with 30-minute latency.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Oct 19, 2023UK funds surveillance satellite replacement lost in Virgin Orbit failure

Horizon Technologies ordered two other Amber surveillance satellites from AAC Clyde Space in 2021 that were initially slated to launch in 2022 but suffered production delays.

RelationshipsPlanCapabilityValue 4.2Oct 19, 2023UK funds surveillance satellite replacement lost in Virgin Orbit failure

Amber IOD-3 was a 6U cubesat that was part of a program led by the Satellite Applications Catapult with Horizon Technologies as prime contractor.

RelationshipsCapabilityValue 4.0Oct 19, 2023UK funds surveillance satellite replacement lost in Virgin Orbit failure