Aegis Aerospace Celebrates Commercial and DoD Payloads in Space
Space and defense company Aegis Aerospace Inc. celebrates the successful March 14, 2023 launch of two major space payloads – one commercial and one DoD – onboard SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply Service (CRS)-27 mission to the International Space Station.
The commercial payload, MISSE-17, includes four MISSE Science Carriers (MSCs) with 18 unique experiments and dozens of individual material samples. The experiments include tests of: an additively-manufactured thermal protection system material; silicon photonic integrated circuits; a reversible adhesive; a micrometeoroid impact sensor; and a variety of other novel materials and new manufacturing processes. The experiments will be exposed to the space environment for approximately six-months while data and photographs are collected through the MISSE facility’s environmental monitoring and data collection systems. The experiments will be brought back to Earth and returned to their sponsors. This mission also includes planned upgrades to the MISSE fixed-facility’s avionics to enhance its redundancy and reliability. This is Aegis Aerospace’s ninth commercial MISSE mission.
The DoD payload, STP-H9, includes eight spaceflight experiments that will be in space for approximately 12 months. As the prime contractor for the DoD Space Test Program – Houston’s office, Aegis Aerospace designed the STP-H9 payload to accommodate the eight DoD experiments and then integrated, tested, and will operate the payload. It will be hosted on the ISS Japanese Experiment Module – Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) on the ISS.
“This launch illustrates the flexibility and depth of our space services and on-orbit support capabilities and demonstrates our ability to support any customer’s space-testing needs,” stated Aegis Aerospace Executive Chair and CEO, Stephanie Muñiz Murphy.
“STP-H9 marks the seventh major experiment platform that we have designed, integrated, tested and operated for the DoD’s Space Test Program over the past 15 years,” stated Aegis Aerospace President, Bill Hollister. “Each is unique and they have become increasingly complex, but our flexibility and deep understanding of our customer’s requirements help ensure that we always deliver a product that meets and exceeds our customers’ expectations.”
The next STP flagship payload for the company is STP-H10 and next commercial payload is MISSE-18.
Image of MISSE, Aegis Aerospace’s flight facility permanently affixed to the outside of the ISS. MISSE will house the MISSE-17 mission for six months for customer experiments, tests, and demonstrations. Photo credit: NASA
Image of the STP-H9 payload before being turned over to NASA for launch at Kennedy Space Center. Photo credit: DoD Space Test Program
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