Brazil’s INPE selects Spaceflight to launch Amazonia-1 satellite

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has awarded a contract to Spaceflight Industries to provide launch services for the Amazonia-1 satellite.

The deal follows a multi-year, competitive government procurement process initiated by INPE.

As part of the contract, Spaceflight will provide launch and end-to-end mission management services, as well as hardware to INPE.

Spaceflight Industries business development vice-president Melissa Wuerl said: “Our goal continues to be to provide the most rideshare options for customers to get their spacecraft into orbit, which ultimately benefits everyone on board.”

Amazonia-1 is the first Earth observation satellite to be exclusively designed, integrated, tested and operated by the Government of Brazil.

Measuring 1.7m in diameter and 2.6m in length, the satellite aims to observe Brazil’s national territory, specifically the Amazon region.

It is built on a Brazilian Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), a general purpose service bus developed for 500kg satellite types.

Amazonia-1 weighs roughly 700kg and represents the biggest satellite to be launched by Spaceflight.

The satellite is scheduled to be launched mid-2020 on a PSLV rocket as a primary payload.

During the launch, Amazonia-1 will be accompanied by other smallsats owned by Spaceflight’s rideshare customers.

Once launched, Amazonia-1 will be placed to a 760km sun-synchronous orbit, while its rideshare spacecraft will be deployed at a lower altitude.

Last week, XYO Network signed a definitive agreement with Spaceflight to launch its EtherX blockchain satellite into space.

The launch will be conducted by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.