Samara Aerospace is gearing up to validate its patented satellite-pointing technology in space. The company's Multifunctional Structures for Attitude Control (MSAC) will be put to the test aboard an Impulse Space Mira orbital transfer vehicle, launching on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission.
Having successfully completed ground-based testing, Samara Aerospace is confident in the MSAC technology's ability to withstand launch forces and operate effectively in the harsh environment of space. The upcoming Cicada payload mission on a Mira vehicle represents “the first all-up test, where MSAC will experience launch, vacuum, temperature cycles and show that it produces the same forces and torques in space that we have shown in the lab,” said Vedant, Samara Aerospace co-founder and chief technology officer, to SpaceNews.
According to Patrick Haddox, Samara co-founder and CEO, this mission will be “the final step for convincing our customers that this new technology is just as reliable as any other technology that does an equivalent or a slightly lesser job.”
In parallel with the Cicada mission, Samara Aerospace is actively developing Hummingbird, a satellite bus leveraging the MSAC technology. This development is supported by a $2 million SpaceWERX Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) award announced in June. This award, sponsored by the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, is matched by $2 million Samara secured in a pre-seed round earlier this year.
“Hummingbird offers enhanced stability that can enable next-level sensing,” Haddox explained. Vedant added that the TACFI funding will allow Samara to demonstrate MSAC’s “core functionality, avionics, mechanics and controls." The goal is that “Once we achieve that flight heritage, every single subsystem in the Hummingbird platform will have been demonstrated in low-Earth orbit.”
As part of the TACFI agreement, Samara will also handle the assembly of the Hummingbird platform for its future launch. Vedant pointed out that the rapid development of the Cicada payload, completed by seven employees in just four months, “is getting us traction with potential customers and partners.” Haddox noted that the SpaceWERX funding “is going to help push us further faster.”
Looking ahead, the company is aiming to launch a 100-kilogram Hummingbird technology demonstrator in 2027 and is actively seeking suitable payloads for this mission. Vedant clarified that “It’s a technology demonstrator, so the risk posture should apply,” but “we are happy to be a host.”