Momentus used a third-party deployer for this mission, and an investigation is underway to determine what went wrong. Meanwhile, Lunasonde is attempting to locate and communicate with its lost prototype satellite, which was intended to lead the deployment of a constellation of microsatellites for mapping resources beneath the Earth’s surface.
Key takeaways:
- Three satellites launched by Momentus on SpaceX's Transporter-9 mission failed to deploy and their current location is unknown.
- The lost satellites include AMAN-1, JINJUSat-1, and Picacho, which were meant for Earth observation and communication purposes.
- Lunasonde, the company behind the Picacho satellite, received initial telemetry data but is now trying to locate and communicate with the lost satellite.
- Momentus used a deployer from an unidentified third party for this mission and is currently investigating what went wrong with the deployment of the small satellites.