An ISRO Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifting off. Photo: ISRO

NanoRacks signed its first customer contract for a small satellite rideshare on the India Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Polar Space Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Spire, a long-time customer of NanoRacks, has signed to fly four of their Lemur 3U CubeSats, targeting a March 2019 flight.

Spire’s CubeSats aim to offer data and analytics for parts of the world where collecting data is notoriously difficult — tracking ships, planes, and weather in remote regions which often go unmonitored. Of the more than 80 satellites Spire has launched, 37 have been deployed into orbit via NanoRacks from both the International Space Station (ISS) and the Northrop Grumman Cygnus Spacecraft.

NanoRacks is working with Berlin-based Astro- und Feinwerktechnik Adlershof GmbH (Astrofein) to manufacture and supply deployers, and is coordinating this launch opportunity with Antrix, the commercial arm of the ISRO. Polar orbit opportunities come in addition to NanoRacks’ work in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which includes small satellite deployments from the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (NRCSD) and Kaber Deployer on the ISS, as well as the External NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer (E-NRCSD) mounted on the exterior of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft.