PacSci EMC has successfully launched their own demonstrator satellite, PACSCISAT.
The company will conduct payload tests to prove the performance of several of its commercial space technologies once the satellite is commissioned and on orbit. The mission was undertaken to give the company’s customers additional assurance and confidence that an electronic controller and propulsion system perform as specified in the harsh space environment where reliability, precision and control are paramount. PacSci EMC's self-funded PACSCISAT was produced and launched to establish flight heritage for the craft for these products.
PACSCISAT was launched on June 23, 2017, on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle flight C38 (PSLV-C38) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. The satellite is equipped with two, fully operational Smart Energetics Architecture (SEA™) controllers, four Modular Architecture Propulsion System (MAPS™) rocket motors, two Smart Initiators and two space standard initiators (103377-500).
After a two-week satellite commissioning period, once the satellite is on orbit, PacSci EMC will conduct payload tests using the SEA controllers to fire the initiators and MAPS rocket motors. MAPS is a solid, clean-burning propellant array of rocket motors, which were fired in pairs to maneuver the satellite. SEA Technology is capable of precisely actuating hundreds of devices on launch vehicles and satellites while taking up very little volume, mass or power. It can actuate launch vehicle rocket motors, stage separation systems, release devices and deploy satellites into space.
On satellites and space vehicles, SEA Technology can deploy solar arrays, scientific instruments and many other devices, and can use either pyrotechnic or non-explosive, motorized actuators in any combination needed. SEA is also at the heart of MAPS. PacSci EMC products are used in all phases of vehicle flight beginning with ground-based operations through lift-off/boost, solid rocket booster jettison, payload fairing separation, booster separation, second stage flight, payload separation and flight termination.
Greg Scaven, PacSci EMC’s president, stated that undertaking this launch is a first for the company — customers already know they can depend on the firm's technology, but PACSCISAT will answer the question, ‘has this hardware flown in space before?’ and highlights the company's commitment to invest in NewSpace. Now, customers won’t have to take on the risk of using a supplier that does not have flight heritage — that has now been done for them.
