Hammerhead Spacecraft Integration Completed
Preparing for Upcoming European Tech Demonstration Mission
The integration of a Hammerhead spacecraft platform for an upcoming European Space Agency (ESA) mission has been completed at the Redwire facility in Kruibeke, Belgium. The spacecraft will support the In-Orbit Demonstration and Verification (IOD/IOV) mission that will support several innovative technology demonstrations, funded by the European Union. Redwire is the prime contractor for the mission.
"This platform has become a critical asset for European space exploration missions."
Mike Gold, Redwire
Following platform integration, the spacecraft will undergo platform system testing and payload integration, which will also take place at Redwire’s satellite processing facility in Belgium. This is the second Hammerhead spacecraft platform to be successfully integrated at Redwire’s Belgium facility this summer. In June, Redwire announced that it successfully integrated a Hammerhead satellite for ESA’s Atmospheric Limb Tracker for Investigation of the Upcoming Stratosphere (ALTIUS) mission, of which Redwire is also prime contractor.
“Redwire is tremendously proud of the flight heritage of our Hammerhead spacecraft. This platform has become a critical asset for European space exploration missions, and we are readying for another important delivery for our customer,” said Redwire president of Civil and International Space, Mike Gold. “Hammerhead’s versatile design and Redwire’s proven engineering expertise provide a unique advantage for customers looking to tackle exciting missions in low Earth orbit.”
Hammerhead is Redwire’s highly versatile low Earth orbit spacecraft platform, offering exceptional performance and a track record of outstanding reliability with 50 years of in-orbit performance without spacecraft failure. The IOD/IOV satellites also feature Redwire’s third-generation Advanced Data and Power Management System (ADPMS-3) avionics.
Redwire’s facility in Belgium has more than 40 years of spaceflight heritage developing spacecraft platforms and success delivering innovative technology for game-changing ESA programs. Most notably, every spacecraft used for ESA’s Proba missions (Proba-1, Proba-2, Proba-V, and Proba-3) have been developed and integrated at Redwire’s Belgium facility. Leveraging its legacy of innovation and excellence, Redwire continues to manufacture spacecraft for important ESA programs, including Skimsat, a technology demonstrator for a small satellite platform designed to operate in very low Earth orbit.