Sir Richard Branson's launch company Virgin Orbit has teamed up with the Polish satellite company SatRevolution and other Polish researchers to send a small spacecraft to Mars within the next three years. The consortium is looking to launch at least three Mars missions with the initial mission being launched by 2022.
Researchers plan to use cubesats for the upcoming missions. This will mark the first time that these small satellites will be used in this fashion. Cubesats were originally used for low-orbit missions close to Earth, but as of late, scientists have been experimenting with cubesats on an interplanetary level.
The team of companies say that the cubesats in which they plan to use are fairly small in size, weighing a mere 110 pounds or even less. The original design of the spacecraft was much smaller as it was a tiny four-inch cube that weighed only three pounds. The Polish scientists have since modified the design to meet their mission requirements.
This mission is based on a recent 2018 mission that seen a cubesat pass by Mars and successfully transmits data confirming the InSight lander's touchdown. However, the Polish team says that their mission will be groundbreaking as there is an added commercial component.
"This mission will galvanize the Polish space sector and mark its position on the international arena," SatRevolution co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Grzegorz Zwoliński said in a statement on October 9. "The project will accelerate the development of small satellites and lightweight space science instrument technology. We want Poland to be 'the go-to' country for small interplanetary spacecraft."
Virgin Orbit has a large task at hand as well as they will be responsible for the launching of the spacecraft. The company's first-ever launch could come as early as this year when they blast off an orbital rocket to conduct a routine test flight.
Sir Branson's company is currently developing a launch system that will use a rocket called LauncherOne that is attached to, and later dropped from, a 747 aircraft dubbed Cosmic Girl.
In a recent statement, Stephen Eisele, Virgin Orbit's vice president of business development, said, "Virgin Orbit is thrilled to join this consortium, as it speaks directly to our mantra of 'opening space for everyone."
Eisele also said that, "given Poland's strong foundation in engineering and sciences, government and academia in the country would benefit greatly from the increased access to space afforded by flexible, dedicated launch platforms like LauncherOne."
