Kleos Space cubesats. Photo: Kleos Kleos Space, a space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance data provider, completed all acceptance reviews and the satellites are mission-ready awaiting transport to RocketLab’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The satellites in the Kleos’ Scouting Mission are now secured in their protective Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) boxes – designed to prevent damage to the hardware in the event of a discharge of static electricity. The multi-satellite Scouting Mission system aims to form the foundation of a constellation that delivers a global picture of hidden maritime activity, enhancing the intelligence capability of government and commercial entities when Automatic Identification System (AIS) is defeated, imagery is unclear, or targets are out of patrol range. The first scouting mission is made up of four nano-satellites built by GomSpace in Denmark. Kleos’ CTO Miles Ashcroft said “Our satellites have undergone and successfully passed the full test suite. They are formally technically accepted as mission ready. We await the ‘green light’ from our launch partners RocketLab to dispatch to Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand for flight preparation and integration onto the launch vehicle.”
Kleos Space's satellites have been declared mission-ready and are waiting for the go-ahead for launch at Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The first of these satellites, named OSIRIS-REx, is scheduled to blast off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sept. 22, 2018.