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HotSat-3 reaches orbit as SSTL marks 80th satellite and 50th launch

The successful launch of SatVu’s HotSat-3 has marked two significant milestones for SSTL, with the spacecraft becoming the 80th satellite we have delivered and our 50th launch.

HotSat-3 launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and has now entered its commissioning phase ahead of commercial operations.

Designed and built at SSTL in Guildford, the satellite carries SatVu’s high-resolution mid-wave infrared (MWIR) payload and will operate alongside HotSat-2 as part of the company’s growing thermal intelligence constellation.

Once commissioned, HotSat-3 will increase SatVu’s ability to collect high-resolution thermal imagery of assets and infrastructure around the world, by day and by night. Together with HotSat-2, it will provide greater capacity and more frequent observations for customers across defence and intelligence, economic intelligence and climate resilience.

For SSTL, reaching 80 satellites and 50 launches is an important marker in a journey that began more than four decades ago. Behind those numbers are hundreds of engineers, technicians, project teams and support functions, working across missions for customers around the world.

Andrew Cawthorne, Managing Director of SSTL, said: “Seeing HotSat-3 safely in orbit is a great result for SatVu and a very proud moment for everyone at SSTL who has contributed to the mission. To reach our 80th satellite and 50th launch on the same mission makes this one particularly special. Those milestones represent decades of engineering, problem-solving and teamwork across the business. My thanks go to the HotSat-3 project team and to everyone across SSTL who has supported the programme. Getting a satellite safely to orbit is never the achievement of one team alone.”

HotSat-3 will now continue through commissioning ahead of the start of commercial operations.

Its launch adds another mission to SSTL’s long record of designing, building and delivering small satellites - and another important step in SatVu’s growing constellation.