Baby Bird Mission Update

An inside look at how Manifest Space's first optical beacon is progressing from software testing through integration and flight acceptance, on the road to Transporter-18.

George Randel, Lead Electrical Engineer, The Radiation Team & Adarsh Rajguru, Chief Technology Officer, Manifest Space

Manifest Space is building onboard space traffic awareness for every spacecraft. Our first product is an independent, vehicle-mounted optical beacon that gives satellites a persistent, externally verifiable signal of their identity and position from the moment it deploys. This summer, that product is moving from the bench toward the launch pad. Here's where things stand.

WHERE THE BEACON IS TODAY

Our first flight payload, the optical beacon, has been built with support from The RAD Team, which contributed radiation engineering, electronics design, and mission assurance expertise. It is now undergoing software testing with an emulator of the host satellite, Baby Bird, provided by Blackwing Space. Baby Bird is scheduled to fly onboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 launch in October 2026.

Currently we are validating the telemetry exchange between our optical beacon and Baby Bird's flight software. This software testing is expected to conclude by the end of June, after which the flight hardware will be prepared for transport to integration.

INTEGRATION WITH BABY BIRD

In July, the flight hardware travels to Blackwing Space for final integration onto Baby Bird in their Nashville facility. Following integration, the joint Manifest Space and Blackwing Space teams will perform a full set of functional checkouts, including safe-to-mate testing and software verification, to confirm that the optical beacon is operating as expected once connected to the host satellite.

FLIGHT ACCEPTANCE TESTING

After integration, the assembled satellite will move to an environmental test facility

in Huntsville, Alabama, where it will undergo testing for flight acceptance. The campaign begins with vibration testing, followed by thermal vacuum testing to verify beacon performance across hot and cold operational limits.

Manifest Space will accompany the flight hardware throughout integration and environmental testing, supporting Blackwing Space as part of a joint satellite-level flight acceptance campaign. This work represents an important milestone for us: we are validating our optical beacon not only as a standalone payload, but as an integrated subsystem operating within the Baby Bird spacecraft.

PREPARING TO WATCH THE BEACON ON ORBIT

In parallel, we have begun lining up how we will actually watch the beacon once it is on orbit. From the ground, we are collaborating with partners to observe it using telescopes. From space, we are arranging observation through SpaceX's Stargaze system, using a leading space situational awareness data and alert platform.

Once environmental testing is complete, our focus shifts to mission operations preparation. That includes mission operations planning, finalizing our ground-based optical observations, and readying the space-based observation campaign ahead of flight. 

WHAT THIS MILESTONE MEANS

The Baby Bird mission is progressing steadily through software verification, integration planning, flight acceptance testing preparation, and early operations coordination. It marks a major step forward for Manifest Space as we prepare to demonstrate our optical beacon technology in orbit, and to take the first concrete step toward a future where every spacecraft can persistently report its identity and orbital parameters in near real-time, from day one.

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