Tyvak International, a Terran Orbital Company, Completes Critical Design Review of Deep Space Bound Milani Satellite
June 21 2022 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
The nanosatellite will support the European
Space Agency’s Hera Mission
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in
satellite solutions, primarily serving the aerospace and defense
industries, today announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tyvak
International SRL, has together with its partners, achieved full
Critical Design Review of the Milani spacecraft. A critical
component of the Hera planetary defense mission, Milani will be the
European Space Agency’s (ESA) first deep-space nanosatellite.
Milani will also be the first nanosatellite ever to orbit an
asteroid. Tyvak International is responsible for Milani’s design,
build, and mission operations. In this exploration, Tyvak
International is joined by an excellent consortium of European
industries and research centers from Finland, Czech Republic, and
Italy.
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Milani scans Didymos (Credit: ESA /
Science Office)
The world’s first test of asteroid deflection, Hera, will
perform a detailed post-impact survey of the target asteroid,
Dimorphos – the orbiting Moonlet in a binary asteroid system known
as Didymos. NASA’s DART mission will first impact the moonlet.
Following the DART impact, Hera will turn the experiment into a
well-understood and repeatable planetary defense technique,
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 Andrea Milani, the pioneer of asteroid risk
analysis who came up with the original double-spacecraft DART-Hera
concept, is a companion nanosatellite of HERA, carried by the
mothercraft along the journey to the asteroid, and ultimately
released in its proximity. Milani’s main instrument will be the
ASPECT hyperspectral imager (by VTT, Finland), combining visible
and near-infrared wavelengths to survey the surface down to a
maximum spatial resolution of one meter. ASPECT will sift through
sunlight reflected from Dimorphos as well as its bigger companion
Didymos, looking for distinctive mineral absorptions of individual
asteroid boulders. Along with ASPECT, Milani’s secondary payload is
called VISTA (Volatile In-Situ Thermogravimetre Analyser).
The instrument (by INAF, Italy) can detect the presence of dust
particles smaller than 5-10 micrometers in water and will monitor
molecular contamination surrounding the satellite. Finally, laser
reflectors (by INFN, Italy) will enable unprecedented gravity field
measurements of the asteroid coupled with Hera’s laser range
finder.
“Terran Orbital is honored to be selected once again for a
contract that will yield unprecedented scientific returns for the
global community while propelling Europe’s ambitions in Planetary
Defense capabilities,” said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman,
and Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell. “Tyvak International’s
design and construction of the Milani spacecraft will enable the
acquisition of extremely valuable information for future asteroid
deflection missions. We are thrilled ESA trusted us with this
privilege, and we look forward to continuing to design, build,
deliver, and operate cutting-edge satellite solutions that make our
planet a safer place to live.”
“We are absolutely thrilled by the maturity reached by the
Milani spacecraft in such a short time,” said ESA Hera Project
Manager Ian Carnelli. “The capability of Tyvak International, not
only to meet this important milestone but to do so while developing
new advanced technologies with its partners, is unprecedented. We
look forward to continuing this adventure and giving Milani a
beautiful ride to Didymos.”
About Tyvak International
Tyvak International, a Terran Orbital Corporation, is a leading
European nano and microsatellite provider, based in Torino, Italy.
A front runner in miniaturization and specialized in execution and
delivery, Tyvak International is contract Prime of European Space
Agency for the Milani mission, coordinating a team of 12 entities,
universities, research centers, and enterprises in Italy and across
all Europe. Learn more at www.tyvak.eu.
About Terran Orbital
Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of small satellites
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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Virginia Norder pr@terranorbital.com 949-508-6404
Terran Orbital (NYSE:LLAP)
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