A Chilean start-up, Lemu, has ordered a 6U CubeSat from NanoAvionics which will become the country’s first private satellite. The satellite, to be called Lemu Nge, is set to host a hyperspectral imager built by South African company, Simera, according to the 2 December announcement. Lemu hopes to record data on the planet’s ecosystems in order to aid industrial use of natural resources and conservation efforts. The mission is set to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2023 and will be equipped with an on-board propulsion system to facilitate re-entry at end-of-life.
A NanoAvionics M12P 12U bus undergoing assembly. Courtesy of NanoAvionics
LANL
The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has ordered a 12U CubeSat platform from NanoAvionics US with which It will integrate its MAMBO gamma-ray detection payload. The announcement on 8 December also outlined that LANL has also ordered a NanoAvionics ground station and mission control software to enable it to operate the satellite itself. LANL expects to integrate the payload and platform itself with “advice” from NanoAvionics US personnel. At the time of order there is now clear launch date for the mission.
