Hawkeye’s New RF Sensing Satellites Awaiting Launch in Cape Canaveral

HawkEye 360 has announced that its Cluster 3 satellites have been shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida, where they will be launched aboard Spaceflight’s SXRS-5 mission.

The satellites could launch within the month as part of the upcoming rideshare mission, which also includes Kleos Space’s Polar Vigilance Mission satellites, Astrocast’s internet of things nano satellites and Loft Orbital’s YAM-2 satellites.

Cluster 3 expands HawkEye 360’s next-generation satellite constellation, which is designed to detect and geolocate radio frequency signals. The collected RF data is processed and analyzed to deliver actionable insights for national, tactical and homeland security operations, maritime domain awareness, environmental protection and commercial applications, HawkEye 360 said Monday.

“The preparation and launch of additional next-generation clusters is all about increasing the quantity, quality and timeliness of high-impact RF intelligence that we deliver to our customers,” according to HawkEye 360 Executive Vice President Alex Fox, a member of the Potomac Officers Club.

Two preceding satellite clusters are currently in orbit. Cluster 1, which consists of the so-called Pathfinder satellites, was launched in late 2018. The second cluster was launched in January and achieved initial operating capability in March.

HawkEye 360 noted that Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 are significantly more powerful than the first cluster, as they offer faster data processing and come equipped with improved software-defined radios for simultaneous RF collection.

Seven more clusters will be added to the constellation until 2022. The new additions will enable revisit rates as fast as 20 minutes to support time-sensitive defense, security and commercial applications.