RBC Signals, provider of flexible and cost-effective space communication services, and Spaceflight Inc., provider of global launch services, announced today a ground station services agreement between the companies. The agreement has already resulted in successful communications from Spaceflight’s Sherpa-LTE1 orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) and RBC Signals’ global ground station network.
“We were thrilled to support Spaceflight’s important mission in testing their Sherpa-LTE1 for increased capabilities for future missions. We look forward to supporting and scaling with Spaceflight and their customers via our global ground network as Spaceflight continues to provide increasing options and capabilities for rideshare to space,” said RBC Signals’ CEO Christopher Richins.
Spaceflight launched its SXRS-5 mission as part of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-2 launch on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, successfully deploying 35 customer payloads to sun synchronous orbit. As part of the mission, Spaceflight tested propulsion and specific maneuvers of the Sherpa-LTE1 vehicle in preparation for future missions. RBC Signals provided space-to-ground communications in multiple bands for the spacecraft via the company’s global ground network. RBC Signals ground station network is comprised of over 80 antennas in over 50 locations across the globe. Spaceflight is able to schedule access to ground stations seamlessly through ROSS, RBC Signal’s easy to use interface for planning and scheduling antenna time.
“The stability of the RBC Signals ground station network gave us the confidence to execute the commands to Sherpa-LTE1 for propulsion and maneuvering,” said Spaceflight’s Vice President of Engineering, Phil Bracken.
The agreement between RBC Signals and Spaceflight spans multiple missions with the option for continued services thereafter.