# YAM-6
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: loft-orbital
- **platform**: longbow-bus
- **actual launch**: "2024-03-04T00:00:00.000Z"
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: SSO, Falcon 9 Transporter-10 rideshare, Vandenberg SLC-4E
- **tasking supported**: 0
- **last verified date**: 2026-05-24
- **verified by**: community
- **claim status**: unclaimed

## Editorial
YAM-6 (Yet Another Mission 6) is a smallsat operated by Loft Orbital, launched 4 March 2024 on a Falcon 9 Transporter-10 rideshare from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4E.[^skyrocket-yam3] The satellite carries NORAD catalogue number 59126 and the COSPAR designation 2024-043AE, orbiting in a sun-synchronous orbit at 97.55 degree inclination and approximately 463 km mean altitude (range 458-468 km), with a 93.7-minute period and near-circular eccentricity.[^intheskyorg-yam6][^n2yo-yam6]

YAM-6 has an 83 kg bus mass.[^skyrocket-yam3] The catalogue lists the platform as longbow-bus. Loft Orbital confirmed that YAM-8 is the first mission on the Longbow bus,[^loftorbital-yam8-longbow] while the YAM-6 mission blog and community tracking sources describe the spacecraft as using the same standardised bus as prior YAM missions.[^loftorbital-yam6-virtual][^skyrocket-yam3]

YAM-6 is the first Loft Orbital virtual mission satellite. Rather than customers purchasing dedicated spacecraft, YAM-6 enables customers to deploy software applications on-orbit via Loft Orbital Cockpit, accessing the hosted payload suite without owning the hardware.[^loftorbital-yam6-virtual][^techcrunch-loft-virtual] The satellite carries five hosted payloads: a hyperspectral imager (the payload customer has not been publicly identified as of May 2026), an RGB imager, a software-defined radio, an inter-satellite link for real-time connectivity, and a CPU/GPU compute payload supporting on-orbit AI workloads including image processing and change detection.[^loftorbital-yam6-virtual] YAM-6 remained operational as of May 2026.[^intheskyorg-yam6][^anywaves-yam]

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/yam-6
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)