HawkEye 360 has shipped its second cluster of satellites to the launch site at Cape Canaveral, the company reported on Thursday. The satellites are scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 no earlier than January 2021 as part of Spaceflight Inc.'s SXRS-3 rideshare mission.
"These new satellites continue to push the boundaries of commercial RF sensing. Cluster 2 has up to ten times the collection capacity of our current cluster and improved geolocation accuracy,” said John Serafini, CEO of Hawkeye 360.
HawkEye Cluster 2 is the first of a series of next generation satellites HawkEye 360 is deploying to complete its baseline constellation. Cluster 2 will join the company's Cluster 1 satellites in orbit, following the launch.
The three Cluster 2 satellites offer greater power and can collect multiple types of signals simultaneously for longer periods of time. These workhorse satellites will allow HawkEye 360 to offer increasingly robust space-based RF data insights to its US government, international government, and commercial customers across a wide range of frequencies.
Each Cluster 2 satellite contains a customized RF payload, developed by HawkEye 360. The satellite buses were manufactured by UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory. HawkEye 360 will complete development of satellites for Clusters 3 and 4, anticipating launch in the middle of 2021. Clusters 5, 6, and 7 are in development with anticipated launch over the next 18 months.
HawkEye 360's constellation will identify and geolocate RF signals from emitters, including VHF marine radios, UHF push-to-talk radios, maritime and land-based radar systems, L-band satellite devices, and emergency beacons. HawkEye 360 has used proprietary algorithms to process and analyze data that delivers actionable insights.
“Our customers are asking for more data over more regions, so these next generation satellites are critical to supplying our customers with relevant and timely RF geospatial intelligence for national security, maritime domain awareness, environmental protection, and countless other applications," Serafini added.
