Flight Spacecraft Deployer Integration
May 14th, 2026
Author: Levente Buzas VA7QF
Team Photo with CSA and Exolaunch
After over two years of hard work, the time to send MARMOTSat off to space has arrived. Members of the UVic team have travelled to Montreal to integrate the satellite into the deployment mechanism provided by Exolaunch, in the clean room facilities of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). After loading the final version of the flight software, and completing a check-out at UVic, the satellite was carried by team members from Victoria to Montreal inside of a Pelican hard case, as standard carry on luggage. To provide protection during transit, MARMOTSat was packaged in an ESD bag and outfitted with Plexiglass protectors inside this case.
Upon arrival at the CSA, UVic team members first unpacked the satellite, and attached handles to it to ease the subsequent integration activities, consisting of a visual inspection, as well as a basic health check using a computer and electrical ground support equipment. The satellite passed all these and was found to be ready for integration. However, as the CubeSat deployer had not arrived yet, the actual integration was delayed until the second day of the team’s Montreal visit.
With the deployer readily available by the morning of the second day, MARMOTSat was next readied to be actually passed to Exolaunch for its journey to space. First, the Exolaunch representative set up the deployer and associated equipment in the clean room and inspected MARMOTSat. Afterwards, the UVic team removed the Plexiglass protectors from the satellite, placed the satellite on the integration table, prepared photo records, and cleaned the satellite rails with isopropyl alcohol.
Subsequently, the handles were removed from MARMOTSat, its solar panels were cleaned using compressed nitrogen, and the satellite was inserted into the deployer to ensure a clean and smooth fit. This was found to be the case, so next a deployment test was conducted, where the correct functionality of the deployment mechanism was tested and recorded to ensure problem free deployment in space. This was successful as well, so the satellite was sealed in its deployer for its journey to space, after the removal of the RBF pins, therefore wrapping up integration activities.
The UVic team would like to thank the CSA team and Exolaunch for their continued support and guidance during the satellite development phase which allowed us to get to this point, and for organizing and hosting this successful integration activity. The satellite is now on its way to Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) for launch on SpaceX Transporter-17 NET July 2026, stay tuned for more updates!
