Protecting Earth from Asteroid Threats
TURIN, Italy, 14 March 2024 – Tyvak International SRL (“Tyvak International”), a wholly- owned subsidiary of Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) and a leading European nano and microsatellite manufacturer based in Torino, Italy, today announced that they have completed the formal delivery of the Hera Milani satellite to the European Space Agency. For this historical event, a ceremony was held on March 14th at Tyvak International’s premises in Torino, Italy.
Ian Carnelli, Hera’s Project Manager for the European Space Agency attended the delivery event
together with, the Italian Space Agency, the Milani development team, and numerous local and
international dignitaries.
Hera Milani is a nanosatellite developed by Tyvak International, devoted to the visual inspection
and dust detection of the Didymos asteroid following DART impact. As of the first ESA’s first
deep-space nanosatellites, Milani will be launched aboard ESA’s Hera mothercraft in 2024 and
will travel for hundreds of thousands of kilometers to reach the asteroid. Milani will be the first
nanosatellites ever to orbit an asteroid.
Tyvak International is responsible for Milani’s design, build testing, and mission operations. This
exceptional development has been carried forward together the valuable support of companies,
entities and universities from Italy, Finland and Czeck Republic: Politecnico di Milano,
Politecnico di Torino, ALTEC, Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali, Istituto Nazionale di
Astrofisica, VTT, HULD, Brno University of Technology, KUVA Space, University of Helsinki,
and the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
“This is a paramount achievement for Tyvak International,” Margherita Cardi [Tyvak
International VP Programs and Milani Program Manager] said. “Milani is now ready to be
delivered to ESA and undergo the system tests with Hera, to ensure the validation of the
interfaces and the end-to-end communication prior to the launch. The journey is not over, but we
are a step closer to Didymos, and it was a real honor to host the ceremony allowing all those who
contributed to this amazing project to celebrate together.”
Ian Carnelli, HERA ESA project manager said “ESA’s first deep-space CubeSat was developed
in record time by an incredible team. ESA is extremely impressed by the skills, motivation, and
commitment of Tyvak International. We are eager to see the spacecraft in action and help us
unveil the many mysteries around the Didymos asteroid system.”
Special guest Franco Ongaro [Chief Space Officer of Leonardo and former ESA Director] said
“When Prof. Milani proposed the Don Quijote concept to ESA we were only dreaming of
protecting future generations from potential asteroid impacts. Today we are writing a page of
Space history, science-fiction has become reality. Even more, innovative and miniaturized
systems are pushing reality further, Milani as we saw it today was not even conceivable in
2003!”
The Tyvak International team will support the next system level testing phase in ESTEC, in view
of the launch planned for October 2024. Learn more about the MILANI satellite specifically
created for the European Space Agency by Tyvak International in Torino. MILANI – Terran Orbital
About Tyvak International
Tyvak International SRL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Terran Orbital Corporation, is a leading
European nano and microsatellite provider, based in Torino, Italy. A front runner in
miniaturization and specialized in mission development for commercial and institutional
customers, Tyvak International has launched 10 missions, most of them still in nominal
operations through the Mission Control Center in Torino. Learn more at www.tyvak.eu.
About Terran Orbital
Terran Orbital (NYSE: LLAP), is a leading manufacturer of satellites primarily serving the
aerospace and defense industries. Terran Orbital provides end-to-end satellite solutions by
combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and on-orbit support
to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. Learn more
at www.terranorbital.com.
Contacts
Giuseppe Santangelo
Managing Director
giuseppe.santangelo@tyvak.eu