LuxSpace is a European space systems contractor based in Betzdorf in Luxembourg. It was founded in November 2004 as a daughter company of OHB AG, and began operations as a joint venture with SES Astra in January 2005.[1]
On 23 September 2009 the PathFinder2A (aka Rubin-9.1, AIS-Pathfinder 2) payload aboard the Rubin-9 satellite (COSPAR 2009-051F; the Rubin-9 "satellite" was actually the upper stage of the carrier rocket that the payloads were solidly bolted onto; after the rocket had finished its mission with the primary payload, the upper stage remained in space and became "satellite" Rubin-9) was launched by a PSLV-CA rocket. This was LuxSpace's first orbital operation. The satellite carried another payload (Rubin 9.2) by OHB-System.[2]
The company's first own, independent (no shared payload by another company) satellite VesselSat-1 (which was a bona fide satellite) was launched on October 12, 2011 as part of the GapFiller program;[3] followed by its twin VesselSat-2 on January 9, 2012.
References
- ^ (31 January 2005). "OHB-SES Venture Targets Space, Defense Markets", Space News 16 (4): 13.
- ^ https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/rubin-9-ais.htm
- ^ Lakshmana, LK (12 October 2011). "India joins space big league Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine", Hindustan Times. Retrieved 26 January 2012.