The companies announced on Nov. 3 that they had signed an agreement to launch the Exotrail spacecraft on an Isar rocket
Exotrail will use starts for the service,which she calls spacedrop - the delivery of small satellites to the desired orbits. For this, the Spacevan Orbital Transport Vehicle (OTV) is used, which, in turn, uses electric propulsion systems and software from Exotrail.
Isar Spectrum rocket
“The contract with Isar Aerospace allows us toconsolidate our space drop service by offering more launch options to customers looking for tailor-made and competitive access to LEO and GEO orbits,” said Jean-Luc Marie, Exotrail CEO.
Exotrail is primarily known for itswork on electrical power plants. This included an agreement announced in September with Airbus to supply Exotrail engines for Airbus' future earth observation satellites.
However, a service such as spacedrop has long beenincluded in the plans of the company. “When we started in 2017, we did it as a logistics company,” said David Henri, product director for Exotrail. Now the company's plans go further.
Isar Spectrum rocket
He said the Exotrail is different from other companies developing orbital vehicles because of its own electric propulsion development.
Henri argues that vehicles such as the "space van" are necessary even with the proliferation of small launch vehicles that promiseAccording to him, this is especially true for companies working on relatively small "constellations" that can beIt will be necessary to launch 100 kg of satellites at a time." "Buying 100 kg of a single-ton micro-launcher is not enough to ensure delivery to the destination," he said.
Isar Spectrum space launch vehicle
The Isar Spectrum, which belongs to the single-ton class of small launch vehicles, is under development and its first launch is scheduled for 2023.
Exotrail is not the first OTV developer to signlaunch agreement with Isar. In June, D-Orbit, the Italian space logistics company, announced that it had ordered a Spectrum launch for its ION launch vehicle, due as early as 2023.
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