# YAM-3
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: loft-orbital
- **platform**: longbow-bus
- **actual launch**: "2021-06-30T00:00:00.000Z"
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: LEO, Falcon 9 Transporter-2 rideshare
- **tasking supported**: 0
- **last verified date**: 2026-05-24
- **verified by**: community
- **claim status**: unclaimed

## Editorial
YAM-3 (Yet Another Mission 3) is a smallsat operated by Loft Orbital, launched 30 June 2021 on a Falcon 9 Transporter-2 rideshare from Cape Canaveral.[^skyrocket-yam3] The satellite carries NORAD catalogue number 48915 and orbits in a sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 430 km altitude with 97.7 degree inclination and a 93.0-minute period.[^intheskyorg-yam3]

YAM-3 has an 83 kg bus mass. The catalogue lists the platform as longbow-bus; Loft Orbital's own announcement of YAM-8 identifies YAM-8 as the first mission on the Longbow bus,[^loftorbital-yam8-longbow] while a LeoStella delivery notice covers YAM-3 as a LeoStella-built ESPA-class spacecraft.[^satnews-leostella-yam3] The specific LeoStella bus variant (LS-100 or LS-200) has not been specified in publicly available documentation as of May 2026.

The satellite carries three hosted payloads. First, a Eutelsat ELO IoT radio-frequency receiver for narrowband Internet-of-Things connectivity (which of the two ELO instruments, ELO-1 or ELO-2, is hosted on this spacecraft has not been confirmed in public sources as of May 2026). Second, a POET (Pit Boss and Overhead Experiment Technology) demonstration suite comprising a Sagittarius-A* Innoflight processor, a DARPA Blackjack Pit Boss battle management computer, and an SSCI sensor package, sponsored by the Space Development Agency.[^ssci-poet-yam3] Third, an RGB imaging sensor.[^skyrocket-yam3] YAM-3 remained operational as of May 2026.[^anywaves-yam]

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/yam-3
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)