Altius Pushes Small-satellite Launcher Using Cygnus Cargo Tug

摘要

In early September, Altius Space Machines executives plan to meet with NASA officials at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss the firm's proposal to use one of the space agency's commercial cargo vehicles to launch small satellites after it delivers supplies to astronauts and picks up the trash. Altius engineers have designed the new payload carrier, called HatchBasket, to fit in the hatchway of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s enhanced Cygnus cargo module and take advantage of fuel remaining in the unmanned cargo ship to boost the capsule to an altitude of approximately 500 kilometers where HatchBasket would expel its complement oi satellites.