CENTAURI-5 is the third satellite Terran Orbital has built for Fleet Space Technologies. The satellite launched aboard SpaceX Transporter-5 and follows the successful deployment of CENTAURI-4 on SpaceX Transporter-2. The spacecraft is based on Terran Orbital’s Thriumph platform.
CENTAURI-5 is orbiting in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of roughly 530 km (330 miles). A 6U-sized smallsat with a total weight of 12kg, CENTAURI-5 will add capacity, reduce latency, and provide additional network redundancy in the existing six satellite Centauri constellation operated by Fleet Space in collaboration with Terran Orbital.
Upgrades to the Centauri 5 payload include enhancements that mitigate the effects of radiation in LEO, direct communication links to the ground station as well as an extended S-band range, allowing uplink at standard, ground station frequencies.
Digital beamforming provides extra gain, increasing the data rate, and also allows the S-band frequency channels to be reused on the different beams. This combination increases by 2x the satellite’s data capacity. In a world first, the all-metal patch antennas are all entirely 3D printed.
The advances in 3D printing technology used in the construction of its patch antenna also feed into the development of the forthcoming, fully 3D printed, micro Alpha constellation, scheduled for launch in 2023. Together, the two systems will provide continuous coverage, data rates up to 520 kbps, and tailored frequency bands servicing current and future generations of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
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SpaceX launched several dozen payloads on its fifth dedicated rideshare mission on May 25, 2022. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2:35 p.m. Eastern.
The Transporter-5 mission carried 59 payloads, which SpaceX described as including satellites, orbital transfer vehicles, and non-deploying hosted payloads.
