The orbital launch activities in Florida for the year began with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch, mirroring the conclusion of 2023. The mission involved placing a communications satellite for Sweden-based Ovzon, the Ovzon-3 satellite, into geostationary orbit. This launch marked the first privately-funded Swedish satellite to be launched.
The Falcon 9 liftoff took place within a ten-minute launch window that commenced at 6:04 p.m. EST (2304 UTC). Notably, this launch followed closely on the heels of the previous SpaceX Falcon 9 flight, which occurred less than 24 hours earlier and involved deploying 21 Starlink satellites from California.
Spaceflight Now provided live coverage with commentary from Cape Canaveral, starting about an hour before liftoff.
“Sweden has a strong history with the satellite area, but this is a first for Sweden and I think that’s something we’re very proud of,” said Kristofer Alm, the Chief Marketing Officer for Ovzon. “And I think that Sweden is a very strong based to continue our development.”
Following liftoff on Wednesday, the satellite will spend the next three months reaching its orbital slot of 59.7 East. Once it gets there, Ovzon will begin its full testing campaign. The plan is that by mid-2024, the satellite will be full operational. The orbital launch activities
“The good thing is we’re not finished then. We’re going to keep adding capabilities,” Alm said. “Obviously, some of those capabilities will be customer-driven, some that we will do because it’s on our roadmap.”
At its core, the Ovzon-3 satellite is designed for critical missions with so-called near-peer capabilities. Alm said the idea is for the satellite to be operable without being reliant on the ground segment of the architecture, helping it be resistant to jamming or other intrusive operations.
The Ovzon-3 satellite features five steerable spot beams, enabling it to adjust its coverage areas to deliver the highest user capacity efficiently. It is designed to work seamlessly with Ovzon’s suite of satellite terminals.
Ovzon primarily targets the defense sector, where it has seen significant success. The company’s focus extends to national security and public safety applications, including collaborations with fire and rescue services in Italy and other parts of Europe. Ovzon’s advantage lies in its ability to provide a complete service chain, allowing for the quick activation and deployment of a satellite network within a 24-hour timeframe.