Norway/Lithuania, 5 July 2022 (Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace PR) – Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (Kongsberg) has entered into an agreement to acquire Lithuanian smallsat mission integrator and bus manufacturer NanoAvionics. The planned acquisition expands Kongsberg’s space offering to also have products and technology for manufacturing small satellites.  

NanoAvionics is a leading smallsat mission integrator and bus manufacturer with significant global growth in recent years, including expansions into the United Kingdom and the United States. With more than 150 employees the company has contributed to 120 missions and commercial satellite projects, with customers ranging from national space agencies to universities such as UNSW Sydney and companies such as Thales Alenia Space, Aurora Insight, the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, SEN and others.

Mission contract is NanoAvionics second solar sail mission following NASA ACS3  

VILNIUS, Lithuania, 24 May 2022 (NanoAvionics PR) – Gama, a French space startup, has contracted mission integrator NanoAvionics for a demonstration of Gama’s solar sails propulsion system in low Earth orbit (LEO). Under the mission agreement, NanoAvionics will provide its 6U nanosatellite bus, payload integration services, a satellite testing campaign, launch services and satellite operations. The launch of the “Alpha” nanosatellite is scheduled for the second half of this year.

Gama’s range of solar sails are aimed at commercial companies and research organisations looking for a cost-effective and less complex setup and propulsion system to explore deep space through small satellites. Using nano- or microsatellites propelled through space by solar sails would allow them to travel greater distances without requiring large amount of stored fuel. They can also be launched with smaller and cheaper rockets, making shuttle trips between planets less expensive and more practical than conventional chemical rockets.

VILNIUS, Lithuania, 18 May 2022 (Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace PR) – Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (Kongsberg) has placed an order for three microsatellites with Lithuanian mission integrator NanoAvionics for a space-based maritime surveillance mission covering the North Sea area. All three satellites will be based on NanoAvionics’s largest satellite bus so far, the MP42 microsatellite bus.

The surveillance payload will consist of instrumentation developed by KONGSBERG to include ‘”Automatic Identification System” (AIS) reporting and a navigation radar detector, developed by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), that analyses vessels’ radar use. Combining these provides an overview of ship traffic in the area, to include detection of vessels not reporting correct AIS data.

VILNIUS, Lithuania, 28 April 2022 (NanoAvionics PR) – Satellite operator Prométhée has contracted mission integrator NanoAvionics to build the first nanosatellite for the French company’s planned constellation of Earth observation nanosatellites and image analysis platform.  “ProtoMéthée-1” will be based on NanoAvionics’ flight-proven 16U nanosatellite bus M16P.

In addition to the satellite with onboard camera and propulsion, NanoAvionics will also provide Prométhée with full mission services – testing, integration, launch, licensing, and initial satellite operations. The “ProtoMéthée-1” satellite is intended to be launched towards the end of 2023 in low Earth orbit (LEO). The company’s service demonstrator will be based on a high revisit rate constellation (20 times more passes per day) and offering hyper-reactivity through inter-constellation connectivity.

SYDNEY, Australia, 17 February 2022 (NanoAvionics PR) – The University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, has contracted mission integrator NanoAvionics to build a nanosatellite bus for UNSW’s satellite innovation laboratory. As part of the collaboration, NanoAvionics will deliver a 6U nanosatellite bus fully assembled and tested on a functional level, ready for its research and educational purposes. Payload integration for laboratory testing, modifications, and mission operations validation will be carried out by UNSW Sydney.

The intended GNSS (global navigational satellite systems) payload named “Harry v2” will consist of two “KEA” GPS receivers, developed by the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at UNSW, to perform remote Earth sensing operations using GPS reflectometry. Able to host multiple experiments, it will take measurements from reflections coming from the Earth while using navigation signals from other GPS satellites. The receivers, designed for both aircraft and CubeSat operations, are capable of recording intermediate frequency (IF) data and delay Doppler maps (DDM) with its associated metadata. The experiment data can be used to infer sea-state, wind speed, water-land boundaries and many other unexplored applications.

• Satellites for Sen (16U), Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology are all operational
• Company plans launch of 14 satellites in 2022, including the industry’s first commercially available modular microsat bus (MP42)

VILNIUS, Lithuania, 20 January 2022 (NanoAvionics PR) – NanoAvionics, a leading smallsat manufacturer and mission integrator, confirmed the reception of signals and healthy telemetry data from all of the three satellites launched into low Earth orbit via the successful SpaceX Transporter-3 mission. The rideshare mission that went into orbit on 13 January 2022 included one of the largest and heaviest CubeSats ever built and launched. The 16U small satellite, is the first of five satellites, contracted to NanoAvionics by British company Sen, to establish video streaming media to provide real-time Ultra-High Definition (UHD) videos of Earth.

Deal is part of DEWA’s Space-D programme

COLUMBIA, Ill. (NanoAvionics PR) — Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has selected NanoAvionics, a leading smallsat manufacturer and mission integrator company, to design, build, test, and manage the launching of two nanosatellites 3U and 6U. The services supplied by NanoAvionics also include operation, knowledge transfer and training. This is part of DEWA’s space-D programme that seeks to enhance operational efficiency and reliability, and promote preventive maintenance for the planning, generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and water networks.

Through this programme, DEWA will lead the industry in improving the operations, maintenance and planning of its networks with the support of nanosatellite technology. Space-D supports DEWA’s grid digitalisation programme by using IoT and remote sensing technologies.

VILNIUS, Lithuania, 10 December 2021 (NanoAvionics PR) – Smallsat mission integrator NanoAvionics, together with other UN:IO consortium members, will start working on a feasibility study, which has been granted 1.4 million EUR (1.6 million USD) by the European Commission, to create a sovereign communications network for Europe by 2025. The consortium comprises 14 companies led by satellite manufacturer Reflex Aerospace, launch provider Isar Aerospace and laser specialist Mynaric. According to the Lithuanian mission integrator the concept will “include breakthrough technologies for small satellites”.

It’s not the first time for NanoAvionics to be involved in such R&D projects. Last year, the company was awarded a 1 million euros grant by ESA (the European Space Agency) to develop new technologies for small satellite propulsion systems, and participated in two additional ESA funded satellite technology R&D projects. And in 2019, NanoAvionics received a €10 million grant by the EU’S Horizon 2020 and ESA to develop and launch the initial stage of a Global Internet of Things (GIoT) nanosatellite constellation. It has also built satellites for several space missions that included cutting edge technology such as NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) and Los Alamos National Laboratory’s first astrophysics payload in 20 years.

The MP42 microsat will carry payloads from OQ Technology and Veoware into low Earth orbit

BREMEN, Germany, 17 November 2021 (NanoAvionics PR) – Smallsat integrator NanoAvionics has announced its latest satellite rideshare mission “MP42” to be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 with payloads from OQ Technology and Veoware. Using the prototype of its new MP42 microsatellite bus, it is the fifth shared satellite mission by NanoAvionics, which has been one of the firsts companies in the nanosatellite industry to successfully kickstart and continue such a commercial programme. The launch of NanoAvionics’ satellite has been booked for the SpaceX Transporter-4 mission, planned for 2022.

DUBAI, UAE, 27 October 2021 (NanoAvionics PR) – Smallsat mission integrator NanoAvionics has signed a contract with Contec that includes supplying a 16U nanosatellite as well as mission integration and launch services to the Korean company. The launch of the Earth observation (EO) nanosatellite is planned for the first half of 2023.

The contract also marks the beginning of a two-way collaboration between NanoAvionics and Contec, a provider of ground station services, which NanoAvionics intends to use for its future mission operations in order to extend its global transmission cadence.

The payload of NanoAvionics’ modular 16U satellite bus will consist of an integrated imager with 1,5 m resolution, supplied by NanoAvionics partner, and Contec’s laser communication terminal (LCT). For the efficient delivery of satellite data, Contec will use its existing ground station in Jeju (South Korea) and further 12 stations, to be built by 2022, in Alaska, Sweden, Ireland, and other countries across the globe.