Momentus Granted New Commercial Contract for Vigoride-9 Orbital Service Vehicle
Momentus announced today (Jun. 17) that it has secured a new commercial contract with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) to provide in-orbit services.
(San Jose, California) Momentus (NASDAQ: MNTS) announced today (Jun. 17) that it has secured a new commercial contract with the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) to provide in-orbit services.
Image of a satellite orbiting in space courtesy of Momentus.
Specifically, LASP has selected Momentus to host and operate its Occultation Wave Limb Sounder (OWLS) mission on the Company’s Vigoride-9 Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV), according to today’s press release from Momentus.
LASP’s upcoming mission will fly advanced instruments into orbit to target improvements to modeling of space weather in low Earth orbit (LEO); these instruments are designed to measure atmospheric density waves between 100 and 400 kilometers using solar occultation techniques, generating high-quality data intended to improve modeling of space weather, atmospheric drag, and the evolution of the operating environment for satellites in LEO, according to Momentus.
During its targeted mission launch in 2027, Momentus will integrate and operate two OWLS instruments on Vigoride-9.
Momentus launched its Vigoride-7 Orbital Service Vehicle this past March, and the company’s upcoming Vigoride-8 mission is fully booked to support NASA and scheduled to fly in2027, according to the company.
“We’re proud to support the OWLS mission demonstrating the versatile capabilities of our advanced technology combined with the flexibility of the orbital hosting infrastructure of our latest OSV, Vigoride-9,” said John Rood, Chief Executive Officer of Momentus. “We are encouraged by the increasing demand across a diverse set of commercial customers to support mission-critical orbital services, delivering reliable long-duration hosting and sustained operations. As our orbital services portfolio increases, we are optimistic about the durability of incremental revenue growth opportunities.”
OWLS Principal Investigator Dr. Ed Thiemann said: “Partnering with Momentus allows us to deploy OWLS quickly and efficiently by leveraging its orbital transportation services during the upcoming LEO launch to optimize our latest space weather forecasting instruments. The data we collect will help improve models of the upper atmosphere and deepen our understanding of how the weather we experience at Earth’s surface ultimately impacts satellites in LEO.”
