Northwest Aerospace News PNAA 2021 ADVANCE | Page 13

The OTV is integrated onto the rocket and is deployed at the orbital destination . The Sherpa then takes the satellite from that location to a more ideal location in orbit where it can execute its mission . “ The process is similar to taking a bus across town , and then when you are dropped off at the bus depot , someone will pick you up in a car to take you to their house ,” said Bonin .
Roberts , an Army veteran and graduate of West Point , led a “ team of engineers throughout the planning , design , integration , and launch of SSO-A , the most complex mission in Spaceflight ’ s history ,” according to the website http :// www . spaceflight . com . He shared the benefits of each Sherpa vehicle , named after “ Himalayan people living on the borders of Nepal and Tibet , renowned for their skill in mountaineering ,” who , according to the Oxford dictionary , carry their customer ’ s equipment into some of the most inhospitable places on Earth .
The company website also said , “ Spaceflight ’ s Sherpa-NG ( next generation ) program delivers it all . Our Sherpa family of ESPA-class space vehicles are designed to minimize development timelines while maximizing flight and schedule reliability and mission assurance .”
In early 2020 , the Sherpa-FX “ Go Now ” was announced . It is the most basic version of the Sherpa vehicles and will launch from Cape Canaveral in early 2021 . The OTV is equipped with port extenders which are interfaces for smallsats so that they can carry more smallsats on the mission . Roberts said that SpaceX advertises a single port at one million dollars each , so the more customers , the lower cost per kilogram for the customer . This version of the Sherpa vehicle does not offer propulsion .

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