Question: Space technology company Pixxel, which made an agreement with Momentus, to launch its second Satellite, is the company of-
a) France
b) UK
c) USA
d) India
Answer: (d)
Related Facts:
- On 23 September 2020; Pixxel, Bengaluru based, Indian space-tech startup, has announced about its programme to launch second satellite.
- Pixxel regarding the launch of its second satellite signed an agreement with Silicon Valley-based in-space satellite transportation and infrastructure company Momentus Inc.
- Pixxel’s second small satellite will be placed into the SSO (Sun-synchronous orbit) in December 2021 onboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 launch, as well as options to fly again in 2022.
- The point to be noted, that Pixxel till now has not launched even its first satellite.
- The company’s first satellite is scheduled to be launched towards the end of this year on a Russian Soyuz rocket.
- The Momentus Shuttle Service will provide rideshare for multiple Pixxel spacecraft to predefined orbits.
- Bengaluru-headquartered Pixxel is building a constellation of cutting-edge earth imaging small satellites that can provide real-time remote sensing data across the world.
- Momentus launch and in-space transfer services provide this Indian Space technology start-up with the flexibility to get to the orbit it requires even on a rideshare mission.
- Awais Ahmed, founder and CEO, Pixxel said that we are excited to partner with Momentus to get our satellites up in orbit as soon as we can and get the data in the hands of our customers.
- About the Pixxel:-
- Pixxel was founded in 2019 by then 21-year-olds, Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal.
- Pixxel satellites aim to make the world a more sustainable place through highly accurate data-based insights in agriculture, climate change and forestry.
- Pixxel recently rose a funding of $5 million, which the company is using to rapidly build and launch the second satellite with Momentus’ help.
- About Momentus:-
- Momentus has gained significant traction since its founding in 2017
- Dozens of customers since then attracted by Momentus, ranging from private commercial space to the likes of aerospace giant Lockheed Martin and US space agency NASA.
- It has formed important industry partnerships, most notably with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
- Momentus employs new and proprietary technologies, including water plasma propulsion to enable revolutionary low-cost orbital shuttle and charter services.
- The charter service will allow dedicated capacity to be allocated to a single customer’s payload.
- In the Shuttle Service model, the payload will be rideshare along with other payloads hosted or deployed from the Vigoride transfer vehicle.