PODSAT 1

Launch data:

Spacecraft data:

Artist′s illustration of a Payload Orbital Delivery System accommodation on a Space Systems/ Loral-built telecom satellite. Credit: SSL

SSL′s secondary Payload Orbital Delivery System mechanism can be positioned on several locations on the company′s SSL 1300-series satellite bus. Credit: SSL

Description:

• PODSAT (Payload Orbital Delivery Satellite) is a previously-undisclosed payload funded by a U.S. military research agency. The small spacecraft was fastened inside the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite, then ejected soon after the Falcon 9′s primary payload deployed in orbit following liftoff from Cape Canaveral. Officials from Space Systems/Loral and NovaWurks, two companies involved in the project, acknowledged the existence of the secret secondary satellite after publicly-available orbital data published by the U.S. military registered an unexpected object attributed to Tuesday′s launch named PODSat. The companies declined to release details about the secondary satellite′s mission or design.
• According to documents posted on SSL′s website, the standard PODS accommodation on a telecom satellite like Hispasat 30W-6 can carry a secondary satellite with a mass as high as 200 pounds, or 90 kilograms. The housing is built into the host satellite inside unused battery bays, big enough to carry a deployable payload measuring 3.3 feet (1 meter) by 1.6 feet (50 centimeters) by 1.3 feet (40 centimeters).

Mission details:

• Attached to the Hispasat satellite was a small subsatellite, PODSAT, which was ejected after orbit insertion. PODSAT is a DARPA-sponsored project built by NovaWurks in collaboration with SSL/MDA, consisting of standardized ′satlets′ like the SIMPL payload deployed from the ISS last year. The presence of PODSAT was not announced prior to launch.
• SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket placed the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite in a “sub-synchronous” transfer orbit ranging in altitude between 115 miles (185 kilometers) and 13,285 miles (22,250 kilometers) above Earth, inclined approximately 27 degrees to the equator.
• Hispasat 30W-6 deployed PODSat in the same orbit before beginning maneuvers to raise its altitude toward geosynchronous orbit nearly 22,300 miles (35,800 kilometers) over the equator.

External links:

• EOportal.org Satellite description
• Satellite tracking (n2ya.com): Real time satellite tracking