# ION Satellite Carrier

ION Satellite Carrier (formerly ION CubeSat Carrier) is a satellite platform developed, manufactured, and operated by Italian company D-Orbit. The platform features a customizable 64U satellite dispenser capable of hosting a combination of CubeSats that fits the volume. Throughout a mission, ION Satellite Carrier can release the hosted satellites individually, changing orbital parameter between one deployment and the next. Each of the miniature CubeSats weighs a few kilograms.
The organization also developed a D3 (D-Orbit Decommissioning Device) system, which has obtained funding from the European Commission and the European Space Agency, to safely dispose of satellites at the end of their lives and avoid adding to the problems created by the approximately 130 million pieces of space debris. According to D-Orbit, a space circular economy is feasible, and space recycling will soon be a new sector. This will involve using local resources such as dead satellites to create spaceships in space.
The inaugural mission, named Origin, was launched on Vega flight VV16 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana on September 3, 2020. The vehicle, named ION SCV Lucas, carried 12 SuperDove satellites from Planet Labs. On September 25, ION SCV Lucas released successfully the first SuperDove satellite of the batch; the last satellite was deployed on October 28. As of December 2023, ION SCV has successfully completed 13 missions, 1 as a payload of a Vega rocket and 12 as a payload of a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket.
D-Orbit is a successful alumnus of the European Space Agency's incubator, ESA BIC Portugal, and the two firms collaborated on Project Sunrise, an active debris removal project, in 2019.

## Mission overview

The carrier deployed CubeSats one by one using a spring release mechanism once positioned in a Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km. The 60 cm cubic dispenser allows for several combinations of 1U, 2U, 3U, 3U+, 6U, 6U+, 12U and 12U+ Cubesats along the vertical axis. After completion of the up to one month long deployment phase, ION CubeSat Carrier will initiate a validation phase of its payloads directly integrated on the platform.

## Missions
### Past missions

| Mission Name | Spacecraft | Date | Launch Vehicle | Payload | Customers | Outcome |
| Origin | ION SCV-001 Lucas | 3 September 2020 | Vega | Flock-4v × 12 | Planet Labs | Success |
| Pulse | ION SCV-002 Laurentius | 24 January 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Flock-4s × 8 | Planet Labs | Success |
| Pulse | ION SCV-002 Laurentius | 24 January 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SpaceBEE × 12 | Swarm Technologies | Success |
| Pulse | ION SCV-002 Laurentius | 24 January 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | ARGO (hosted) | EICAS Automazione | Success |
| Pulse | ION SCV-002 Laurentius | 24 January 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | DRAGO (hosted) | IAC | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Ghalib | Marshall Intech | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | NAPA-2 | RTAF | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | NEPTUNO | Elecnor Deimos | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | QMR-KWT | Orbital Space | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SPARTAN | EnduroSat | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | W-Cube | Reaktor Space | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | LaserCube (hosted) | Italian Stellar Project | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Nebula (hosted) | D-Orbit UK | Success |
| Wild Ride | ION SCV-003 Dauntless David | 30 June 2021 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Worldfloods (hosted) | Frontier Development Lab | Success |
| Dashing Through the Stars | ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora | 13 January 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | DODONA | USC | Success |
| Dashing Through the Stars | ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora | 13 January 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | LabSat | SatRevolution | Success |
| Dashing Through the Stars | ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora | 13 January 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | STORK 1, 2 | SatRevolution | Success |
| Dashing Through the Stars | ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora | 13 January 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SW1FT | SatRevolution | Success |
| Dashing Through the Stars | ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora | 13 January 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | VZLUSat-2 | VZLU | Success |
| Dashing Through the Stars | ION SCV-004 Elysian Eleonora | 13 January 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | cloud platform (hosted) | D-Orbit / Unibap / VTT | Success |
| Spacelust | ION SCV-005 Almighty Alexius | 1 April 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | KSF2 × 4 | Kleos Space | Success |
| Spacelust | ION SCV-005 Almighty Alexius | 1 April 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | PlantSat | University of Chile | Success |
| Spacelust | ION SCV-005 Almighty Alexius | 1 April 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SUCHAI 2, 3 | University of Chile | Success |
| Spacelust | ION SCV-005 Almighty Alexius | 1 April 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | UP-box (hosted) | Upmosphere | Success |
| Infinite Blue | ION SCV-006 Thrilling Thomas | 25 May 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Guardian 1 | Aistech Space | Success |
| Infinite Blue | ION SCV-006 Thrilling Thomas | 25 May 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SBUDNIC | BUSE / CNR | Success |
| Infinite Blue | ION SCV-006 Thrilling Thomas | 25 May 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crypto-1 (hosted) | Cryptosat | Success |
| Infinite Blue | ION SCV-006 Thrilling Thomas | 25 May 2022 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | GEN-01 (hosted) | Genergo | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-007 Glorious Gratia | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Astrocast × 4 | Astrocast SA | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-007 Glorious Gratia | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | FUTURA-SM1 | NPC Spacemind | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-007 Glorious Gratia | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | FUTURA-SM3 | NPC Spacemind | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-007 Glorious Gratia | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Kelpie 1 | ACC Clyde Space / Orbcomm | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-007 Glorious Gratia | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Sharja-Sat-1 | SAASST / ITU | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-008 Fierce Franciscus | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | TAUSAT2 | Tel Aviv University | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-008 Fierce Franciscus | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cryptosat-2 (hosted) | Cryptosat | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-008 Fierce Franciscus | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | DRAGO-2 (hosted) | IAC | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-008 Fierce Franciscus | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Genergo-2 (hosted) | Genergo | Success |
| Second Star to the Right | ION SCV-008 Fierce Franciscus | 3 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | ? (hosted) | (undisclosed) | Success |
| Starfield | ION SCV-009 Eclectic Elena | 31 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Satellite simulator | EBAD | Success |
| Starfield | ION SCV-009 Eclectic Elena | 31 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | ADEO-N3 (hosted) | HPF | Success |
| Starfield | ION SCV-009 Eclectic Elena | 31 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Bunny (hosted) | EPFL | Success |
| Starfield | ION SCV-009 Eclectic Elena | 31 January 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SD-1 (hosted) | StardustMe | Success |
| Guardian | ION SCV-010 Masterful Matthaeus | 15 April 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | ELO-3 | Eutelsat | Success |
| Guardian | ION SCV-010 Masterful Matthaeus | 15 April 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | EPICHyper-1 | AAC Clyde Space / Wyvern | Success |
| Guardian | ION SCV-010 Masterful Matthaeus | 15 April 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Kepler-20, 21 | Kepler Communications | Success |
| Guardian | ION SCV-010 Masterful Matthaeus | 15 April 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | VCUB1 | Visiona | Success |
| Guardian | ION SCV-010 Masterful Matthaeus | 15 April 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | MicroCMG (hosted) | Veoware | Success |
| Guardian | ION SCV-010 Masterful Matthaeus | 15 April 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SCORPIO (hosted) | Elettronica Group | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | EPICHyper-2 | AAC Clyde Space / Wyvern | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Kelpie-2 | AAC Clyde Space / Orbcomm | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Outpost Mission 1 | Outpost Space | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SpeiSat | Dicastery for Communication / ASI | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | ELO-4 | Eutelsat | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | AlbaPod × 2 (hosted) | Alba Orbital | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | NaviLEOTM (hosted) | SpacePNT | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | ODIN-DU1 (hosted) | ODIN Space | Success |
| Above the Sky | ION SCV-011 Savvy Simon | 12 June 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | UKRI SWIMMR-1 (hosted) | UKRI | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Crypto3 | Cryptosat | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | EPICHyper-3 | AAC Clyde Space / Wyvern | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Intuition-1 | AAC Clyde Space / KP Labs | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Lemur-2 NANAZ | Spire Global | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | OSW Cazorla | Odyssey SpaceWorks | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | PiCo-IoT × 9 | Apogeo Space | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Ymir-1 | AAC Clyde Space / Saab AB / Orbcomm | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | AlbaPod × 2 (hosted) | Alba Orbital | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Antelope (hosted) | KP Labs | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Gen-03 (hosted) | Genergo | Success |
| Cosmic Wander | ION SCV-013 Ultimate Hugo | 11 November 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Radiosat&Beamasat (hosted) | PICOSATS | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | ALISIO-1 | IAC | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | LOGSATS | Patriot Infovention | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | NanoFF A, B | TU Berlin | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | AlbaPod (hosted) | Alba Orbital | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | MI:1 (hosted) | TRL11 | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Pono 1 (hosted) | Privateer | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | RECS (hosted) | Polimi | Success |
| Beyond | ION SCV-015 Daring Diego | 1 December 2023 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Z01 SuperTorquer (hosted) | Zenno Astronautics | Success |
| Celestial Bliss | ION SCV-012 Magnificent Monica | 16 August 2024 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Lemur-2 × 4 | Spire Global | Success |
| Celestial Bliss | ION SCV-012 Magnificent Monica | 16 August 2024 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Sedna-1 | AAC SpaceQuest | Success |
| Celestial Bliss | ION SCV-012 Magnificent Monica | 16 August 2024 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | TetraPLEX (hosted) | TelePIX | Success |
| Ascend | ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel' | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Data DOT × 4 | Space Dots | Success |
| Ascend | ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel' | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | SWIMMR | UK Research and Innovation | Success |
| Ascend | ION SCV Eminent Emmanuel' | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | AlbaPod PocketQube (hosted) | Alba Orbital | Success |
| Endelss Sky | ION SCV Amazing Antonius | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | LOGSATS-2 | EOS Orbit | Success |
| Endelss Sky | ION SCV Amazing Antonius | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | PoSAT-2 | LusoSpace | Success |
| Endelss Sky | ION SCV Amazing Antonius | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Mission Impossible: 2 (hosted) | TRL11 | Success |
| Endelss Sky | ION SCV Amazing Antonius | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Hitchhiker 1 | SpaceLocker | Success |
| Endelss Sky | ION SCV Amazing Antonius | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | K2 Space Component Mission (hosted) | K2 Space | Success |
| Endelss Sky | ION SCV Amazing Antonius | 14 January 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | AI-eXpress (AIX) | Planetek | Success |
| Wish Upon a Star | ION SCV Marvelous Mathias | 145 March 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | LOGSATS-2 | EOS Orbit | Success |
| Wish Upon a Star | ION SCV Marvelous Mathias | 145 March 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | HERMES 1-6 (High Energy Rapid Modular Ensemble of Satellites) | Italian Space Agency | Success |
| Wish Upon a Star | ION SCV Marvelous Mathias | 145 March 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | DARK (hosted) | Arkadia Space | Success |
| Wish Upon a Star | ION SCV Marvelous Mathias | 145 March 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | GO-2 Propulsion System (hosted) | Morpheus Space | Success |
| Wish Upon a Star | ION SCV Marvelous Mathias | 145 March 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Clustergate-1 | DPhi Space | Success |
| Wish Upon a Star | ION SCV Marvelous Mathias | 145 March 2025 | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Shooting Star Memorial | Beyond Burials | Success |

### Planned missions

| Mission Name | Spacecraft | Date | Launch Vehicle | Payload | Customers | Outcome |