SHERPA is a commercial satellite dispenser developed by Andrews Space, a subsidiary of Spaceflight Industries,[1] and was unveiled in 2012.
Riding atop the launcher's final stage, SHERPA's release follows deployment of the primary mission payload for the dispensing of minisatellites, microsatellites, or nanosatellites such as CubeSats.
SHERPA is a three-axis stabilized platform capable of on-orbit maneuvering meant to deploy small satellites carried as secondary payloads on rideshare orbital launches.
SHERPA is a commercial derivative of the ESPA Grande ring, and it was developed and manufactured by Andrews Space, a subsidiary of Spaceflight Industries[2] since 2010 and was unveiled in May 2012.
[2] [3] Riding atop the launcher's final stage, SHERPA is to be separated from the launch vehicle prior to any deployments or dispensing of minisatellites, microsatellites, nanosatellites and CubeSats.
Augmented version of the free-flying SHERPA-FX equipped with attitude knowledge & control capabilities and a flight computer, optimized for hosted payloads.
SHERPA-ES (SHERPA EScape) is a high-energy SHERPA-NG variant that will utilize the same bi-propellant propulsion system as SHERPA-LTC with 6 times more propellant to deliver satellites and hosted payloads to geostationary and cislunar orbits.