Space domain awareness startup Scout Space announced today that it plans to launch its first standalone spacecraft into orbit on the third flight of ABL's RS1 rocket this year.
Meet the players: ABL, a launch startup founded by ex-SpaceX engineers and backed by Lockheed Martin, had its first launch attempt fail in January 2023. The company hopes to fly its one-metric-ton spacecraft again this summer.
Meanwhile, Scout needs to get its Owl Optical Imaging System into orbit to prove it's a suitable product for information-hungry national security agencies. Notably, the company plans to build, test, license, and launch the satellite within six months.
Climbing the value chain: Founded in 2019 by former FAA engineer Eric Ingram, Scout is developing a platform-independent orbital optical sensor with the goal of characterizing the trajectories and capabilities of other spacecraft.
CEO Philip Hover Smoot, who joined the company in January, wants to build a software stack that uses edge computing in space to take advantage of that sensor data.
“Over the next few years, we will be placing an increased emphasis on geostationary orbit operations for our U.S. Space Force customers,” Hoeber-Smoot told Payload, and this mission will “de-risk those bids and operations.”
Like it or not: Scout has already launched its Sparrow imaging system for small satellites mounted on Apex buses.
ABL's launch of the spacecraft will demonstrate Owl, a 155mm telescope that can take images of the spacecraft from greater distances. The company's final sensor is Raven, designed to provide the information the spacecraft needs to perform rendezvous and approach maneuvers.
Flight demand: Hover-Smoot told Payload that one of its Sparrow sensors and one of its Raven sensors are on a spacecraft built by another company for an in-orbit demonstration, but funding issues mean neither will be able to take off. So Scout is funding its own spacecraft for the Owl mission, with the bus being built by an undisclosed provider outside the US.
