SpaceX has confirmed that Transporter 13 is scheduled for launch on March 3rd, 2025, from the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), California, USA. The six HERMES Pathfinder 3U cubesats will be integrated into D-Orbit ION at the beginning of February 2025 at VSFB. Later, ION will be integrated into the SpaceX Falcon 9. The liftoff is scheduled at 01:06:47 UTC. ION is foreseen to be released in a Sun Synchronous Orbit with an altitude of 512-522 km, an inclination of 97.436 degrees, and an LTAN of 10:30 ± 10 minutes. The HERMES Pathfinder constellation will be released starting from one week later, one satellite per day.

The HERMES Pathfinder Mission Operation Center is handled by Altec Torino, and the Scientific Operation Center is hosted by ASI Space Science Data Center. Two dedicated Ground Stations will support the operation, one at Spino D’Adda in Italy and a second in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia.

The six HERMES Pathfinder satellites have been integrated and tested at Politecnico di Milano facilities in Milano. The six X-ray/gamma-ray payloads have been integrated, tested, and calibrated at INAF-IAPS and Fondazione Bruno Kessler facilities in Roma and Trento. Environmental mechanical tests have been performed at Politecnico di Milano facilities, thermal vacuum tests at Thales Alenia Space’s Gorgonzola facility and INAF-IAPS’s facility.

Three of the six HERMES Pathfinder flight units were developed under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program, HERMES-Scientific Pathfinder project (GA 821896). Three flight units were realized under the framework of the ASI contracts HERMES-Technological Pathfinder. The Katherine Ground Station is managed by the University of Tasmania in the framework of an agreement with INAF, the University of Melbourne, and Masaryk University, and it is mostly funded by the EC INFRAIE project AHEAD2020 (GA 871158).

We look forward to hearing soon the first HERMES Pathfinder whispering from space!

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