LEO Express 1 Mission Updates
Overview
The Impulse team with Mira
LEO Express-1 was the inaugural mission for Impulse's Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), Mira. After successfully completing all mission objectives, the active phase of LEO Express-1 is now concluded. Over 7-months, Mira achieved several exciting milestones:
- Strong Performance of In-House Designs: An example of Impulse's vertical integration approach, Mira features numerous parts and systems created in-house, including thrusters, valves, ignitors, pressure transducers, star trackers, cameras, core avionics, flight software (FSW), and guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) capabilities.
- Immediate Autonomous Operations: Autonomous sun pointing and system checkouts post-deployment.
- Successful Payload Deployment: Deployed the customer's 3U CubeSat with precision.
- Record-Breaking Maneuvers: Completed what we believe are the two largest orbital maneuvers ever made by a nitrous-based system, including the largest orbit raise (150 km in 75 seconds) ever by an OTV on its debut mission.
- Responsible Operations: Operated successfully on orbit during the mission, while also demonstrating a successful collision avoidance maneuver within 48 hours of notice. Operations concluded with a 62-second burn to lower the vehicle back to its initial drop-off orbit.
We are immensely proud of and grateful to the team whose hard work made LEO Express-1 such a huge success. They progressed Mira from a clean-sheet design to successful in-space operations in just 15 months — a testament to their dedication and innovation.
Mission concluded
Mira has successfully completed all mission objectives. Most recently, we did a 62-second burn to lower the vehicle back to its initial drop-off orbit, which is intended to be its long-term parking orbit. Since reaching this orbit, the comms issues we've experienced intermittently since the start of the mission have worsened, and we can no longer consistently communicate with the vehicle. As a result, we have concluded the active part of our mission.
The LEO Express-1 mission was a huge success: designed, built and launched in under 15 months, we consider this the best OTV debut mission ever. We go into our next mission with extremely high confidence.
Primary mission objectives complete!
After four months navigating orbit, Mira — our first orbital transfer vehicle — has successfully completed all of its primary mission objectives! We celebrated the final milestone on Thursday with our eighth and most significant burn: 75 seconds in duration, achieving a 150 km apogee raise. We think this is the largest single maneuver to date by a nitrous-based propulsion system and the largest orbit raise by any OTV on its debut mission.
Imagery of Mira's seventh burn 🔥
Day and night shots of Mira and its Saiph thrusters. The night image shows our seventh burn, where all eight thrusters fired for ~60 seconds. They imparted 34 m/s delta-v, performed a plane change, and lowered Mira's orbit by ~30 km.
Saiph thrusters on Mira LEO Express-1
Accumulated delta-v from burn #7
Dodging Orbital Debris During the Holidays 🎄
Today, our Mira orbit transfer vehicle executed a collision avoidance maneuver in response to a potential collision risk identified by the US Space Force. The maneuver successfully eliminated any possibility of collision! Thanks to our Mission Operations team for working during the holidays to track this risk and react accordingly. Being prepared to perform these maneuvers on short notice is a crucial part of responsible spacecraft operations.
First-try ignition of all eight bi-propellant Saiph thrusters!
Mira has Impulse! Yesterday marked a major milestone as we executed a flawless first-time firing of all eight 5lb (22N) Saiph thrusters on our orbital transfer vehicle, Mira—hats off to our team for their engineering preparation and a well-tested system.
Customer Deployment — TrustPoint 3U CubeSat
Mira successfully deployed its payload, a 3U CubeSat for Trustpoint. Thank you, TrustPoint, for flying on LEO Express-1!
Successful Vehicle Commissioning
Great news for our Mira LEO Express 1 mission — we are receiving data and spacecraft health is good!
Transporter-9 Launch 🚀
Mira launched on its inaugural mission, LEO Express-1, from Vandenberg Space Force Base (SLC-4E) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Go Mira!
Mira is ready for Space
Mira is ready for its inaugural mission, LEO Express-1. The team has completed all pre-launch preparations and integration.
