FOSSA Systems has placed its FOSSASAT-2E27 6U satellite into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 during the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft is FOSSA’s 27th satellite and its first 6U platform, carrying ATHENA NANO, an electric-propulsion system developed by Madrid-based IENAI Space for orbital manoeuvres and constellation operations.
ATHENA NANO uses electrospray technology to extract ions from liquid salt through an electric field, generating thrust with very low propellant consumption. The system is intended to support deployment towards an operational orbit, station-keeping, relative-position control and collision-avoidance manoeuvres. Initial propulsion activations and operational tests were expected several days after launch.
The mission is the first identified flight combining a FOSSA satellite with IENAI’s propulsion system. ATHENA NANO had previously flown on another satellite launched by Isar Aerospace from Norway, but this is its first reported mission with a Spanish satellite manufacturer.
FOSSASAT-2E27 also includes software-defined radio, onboard artificial-intelligence processing and a separate electric-propulsion demonstration. FOSSA is developing its constellation for secure communications and the detection and analysis of electromagnetic emissions, with potential civil and defence applications. IENAI chief executive Daniel Pérez described the flight as the company’s second propulsion mission within two months, with reliability and production scale-up now the main priorities.