Momentus First Demonstration Mission Update #3
13 Junho 2022 - 5:33PM
Business Wire
Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) ("Momentus" or the "Company"), a
U.S. commercial space company that plans to offer transportation
and other in-space infrastructure services, today provided its
third Mission Update since the launch of its Vigoride-3 spacecraft
on May 25.
As we previously stated in earlier updates on the inaugural
flight of the Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle, the spacecraft
experienced anomalies after its launch on May 25. Since that time,
we have continued work to address the anomalies and identify root
causes. Of note, the deployable solar arrays that are produced by a
third party and are folded and stowed during launch did not operate
as intended once in orbit. This resulted in power and
communications issues with the vehicle, even though the body
mounted solar panels did operate as intended. We have been working
closely with the third-party producer of the solar arrays, and in
collaboration with that company have identified what we believe is
the root cause of the arrays not operating as intended. We also
believe we have identified the likely root cause of the other
anomalies, although further analysis continues.
After initially experiencing these anomalies, we were able to
deploy two customer satellites from Vigoride on May 28. Since that
time, we have continued efforts to deploy other customer
satellites, but have not confirmed any subsequent deployments.
While we previously established two-way communications with the
Vigoride vehicle, we have not been able to continue such two-way
communication, which we believe is due to the low power situation
on the vehicle due to the deployable solar arrays not operating as
intended.
In an earlier update on May 27, we indicated that we were using
an unplanned frequency as we worked through the anomalies and were
applying for a Special Temporary Authority (STA) from the FCC to
address that situation. On June 9, we received approval of a 30-day
STA from the FCC as requested.
We are continuing efforts to address the anomalies, but our
level of confidence that we will be able to deploy additional
customer satellites from Vigoride and perform some planned
operations of the vehicle on this test and demonstration mission
has substantially declined.
On a second port on the launch vehicle on May 25, we also used
third party hardware from a partner company to deploy another
customer satellite in orbit. Using this hardware, our partner
deployed four other satellites for their customers during this
launch.
“During this first launch of the Vigoride vehicle to space, we
have learned a great deal and plan to incorporate improvements in
other Vigoride vehicles currently being assembled and
ground-tested. This was the primary purpose of this initial
Vigoride mission,” said John Rood, CEO of Momentus. “As we stated
prior to the launch, we fully expected to experience challenges
during this test and demonstration mission and to learn from them,
which is what we are doing.”
Momentus’ plans for additional launches of the Vigoride vehicle
later this year and in 2023 remain as stated in the Q1 earnings
call on May 10, 2022, with agreements signed with SpaceX for
launches on upcoming Transporter missions in 2022 and 2023,
including Transporter 6 currently targeted for November 2022. We
are working to incorporate improvements identified during the
current mission on the other Vigoride vehicles that we plan to fly
in space during these missions.
“I appreciate the dedication of the team at Momentus that has
enabled us to conduct our first launch of customer satellites and
the Vigoride vehicle,” said Rood. “This included months of detailed
work to implement our National Security Agreement overseen by the
Department of Defense and Department of the Treasury, and working
with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), and National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to obtain the necessary
government licenses, determinations, and approvals to conduct this
flight.”
Rood went on to say, “Space is a notoriously unforgiving
environment. Like other companies that have worked through initial
challenges to create successful capabilities, our engineering team
at Momentus is focused on learning as much as possible from the
remainder of the current Vigoride mission, and utilizing industry
best practices to implement corrective actions and lessons-learned
for our upcoming missions.”
About Momentus
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.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain statements which may
constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal
securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, statements regarding Momentus or its management team’s
expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding
the future, projections, forecasts or other characterizations of
future events or circumstances, including any underlying
assumptions, and are not guarantees of future performance. Because
forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject
to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that
are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of Momentus’
control. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ
materially from the forward-looking statements in this press
release, including but not limited to risks and uncertainties
included under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed by the Company on March 9, 2022, as such factors
may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), accessible on the
SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of
our website at investors.momentus.space. Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not
to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and, except as
required by law, the Company assumes no obligation and does not
intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220613005786/en/
Investors Darryl Genovesi at investors@momentus.space
Media Jessica Pieczonka at press@momentus.space
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