Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) (“Momentus” or the “Company”) has received a favorable determination from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the company’s application for payload review in support of their inaugural flight of the Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-5 mission targeted for launch this month.
The FAA favorable determination marks Momentus’ final regulatory milestone needed to support its inaugural mission. The Company recently received a license from the FCC and license updates from NOAA. These licenses enable Momentus to use radio frequencies to communicate with the Vigoride spacecraft and to use the onboard cameras, respectively.
The decisions by these U.S. government agencies – which in some cases involved a review by other U.S. government departments and agencies, including the Defense Department – reflect the Company’s progress addressing previous national security concerns and commitment to implementation of its National Security Agreement with the U.S. government.
During the inaugural mission, Momentus plans to take customer payloads to orbit and generate a small amount of revenue. However, the mission’s primary goals are to test Vigoride in orbit, learn from any issues that are encountered and incorporate lessons learned into future Vigoride vehicles.
“We welcome these decisions by the relevant U.S. government agencies that clear the way for Momentus to conduct its inaugural launch of the Vigoride spacecraft,” said Momentus Chief Executive Officer, John Rood. “Our team remains focused on completing the late-stage preparation of the spacecraft and looks forward to seeing Vigoride in orbit soon.”
Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company that plans to offer in-space infrastructure services, including in-space transportation, hosted payloads and in-orbit services. Momentus believes it can make new ways of operating in space possible with its planned in-space transfer and service vehicles that will be powered by an innovative water plasma-based propulsion system that is under development. The Company anticipates flying its first Vigoride vehicle to Low Earth Orbit on a third-party launch provider as early as May 2022.