PlanetVac, a pneumatic planetary sampling system developed by Honeybee Robotics, reached a milestone with a successful sample collection demonstration on the Masten Space Systems Xodiac rocket. The test, part of NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, sought to prove that PlanetVac could survive and perform attached to the foot of a spacecraft, including withstanding intense heat, vibration, and landing loads of a rocket touch-down.

Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation today announced that its solar array deployment system has performed successfully on FORMOSAT-5, the most recent Earth observation satellite to be launched by Taiwan’s National Space Organization (NSPO). The 475kg satellite reached sun-synchronous orbit on August 24, 2017.