On this mission, the 20th in our Flight Heritage, Exolaunch successfully deployed the first-ever 16U smallsat into geostationary orbit on behalf of Gravity Space. The mission launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy on April 30 at 8:26 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, USA.

The deployment of a 16U smallsat into geostationary orbit (GEO) marks yet another industry-first in a string of achievements for our EXOpod deployer. After setting the benchmark as the first and only flight-proven, 16U-capable deployer, EXOpod has demonstrated its ability to operate in ever more demanding missions and higher orbits.

On our first launch using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, we provided our EXOpod deployment system as well as our signature mission management & integration services for Gravity Space’s GS-1. This 16U smallsat was built by Space Inventor, a microsatellite manufacturer with a focus on optimizing cost and high performance in a scalable platform. GS-1 showcases the full extent of Space Inventor’s capabilities in a smallsat platform bristling with state-of-the-art communications equipment and multiple hosted payloads.

From its geostationary orbit, GS-1 will use an array of communications equipment to retain a slot reserved for an upcoming communications satellite and preserve the license for its attributed Ku and Ka band frequencies. Among the hosted payloads on GS-1 are instruments designed for Earth observation and scientific experiments, as well as a space situational awareness demonstration payload from Infinite Orbits, all of which will take full advantage of GS-1’s position in its coveted GEO slot.

Gravity Space sought Exolaunch as a trusted partner on this mission for our extensive track record of rideshare launches with SpaceX. As a secondary payload on this launch, Gravity Space relied on Exolaunch’s 290 satellites flight heritage to be safely integrated with the main ViaSat-3 Americas mission and deployed in GEO.

After nine successive missions together with SpaceX, this Gravity Space mission marks a new milestone for Exolaunch with the addition of Falcon Heavy to our portfolio and an outstanding demonstration of our team and our system’s capabilities.

GS-1 was the third launch of 2023 for Exolaunch, closely following the Transporter-7 mission earlier in April. Exolaunch has manifested on every SpaceX Transporter mission in 2023, as well as with multiple new launch vehicles, and is anticipating to reach and go well beyond the 300 satellites launched milestone not later than this summer.