The secondary cargo from the recent Falcon 9 remained undisclosed until US military published orbital data from the launch, where the second object suddenly appeared. A company, related to the launch, claims the cargo is for a R and D mission.

The celebratory 50th launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to be a regular satellite delivery for Hispasat, a Spanish-language communications operator.

However, the orbital data, published by the US military shows that a secondary payload, named PODSat, separated from the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite, when the latter reached orbit.

The niche web portal Spaceflightnow.com reports officials from Space Systems/Loral (SSL) and NovaWurks, two companies involved in the launch, have only acknowledged the existence of a secondary payload release system.

According to Wendy Lewis, a spokesperson for SSL, �An innovative secondary payload release system was successfully tested on Hispasat 30W-6. This was an R and D mission not related to the ongoing operation of the Hispasat satellite. Ride-share arrangements such as this are becoming more common as they help defray the cost of launch and drive innovation for our industry.�

Lewis added �we are not disclosing further details about the secondary payload at this time but we are optimistic about its potential as part of the SSL future R and D roadmap.�

According to the Spaceflightnow.com report, James Greer, chief operating officer at NovaWurks, also refused to elaborate on the secondary satellite's mission, noting that he couldn't do it as it was a "DARPA [US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency] project."

NovaWurks, using the DARPA funding, developed a Hyper-Integrated Satlet, or HISat, architecture, which can be used to reduce satellite construction and deployment costs.

SSL in its turn developed a Payload Orbital Delivery System, or PODS, a mechanism installed inside the Hispasat 30W-6 that was used to release the secondary satellite, once primary payload reached its orbit.

Source: Sputnik News

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SpaceX carries out 50th launch of Falcon 9 rocket
Miami (AFP) March 6, 2018
SpaceX carried out the 50th launch of its signature Falcon 9 rocket early Tuesday, a swift ascent to a milestone which many aerospace giants take far longer to attain. The launch of the Falcon 9 carrying a Hispasat Spanish-language telecommunications and broadband satellite took place on schedule at 12:33 am (0533 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. About 33 minutes into the flight, the satellite was deployed into geo-stationary orbit, SpaceX said in a webcast. The satelli ... read more