Pioneer Xspancion contract signed

A batch of 10 satellites is to be developed following the signing of a three-year Partnership Project between small satellite manufacturer AAC Clyde Space UK and ESA, with co-funding from the UK Space Agency.

The small satellites will spark innovation by enabling companies to develop innovative constellation services using images and data taken from space much more cheaply than in the past.

They will enable AAC Clyde Space UK to deliver such constellation services to its customers. The project will involve a significant expansion of the company’s delivery capability.

Between now and mid-2021, AAC Clyde Space will deliver a preliminary design for its next-generation constellation services offering and increased capabilities for large satellites volume production. This will involve the development of new technologies for the constellation, covering propulsion, inter-satellite links, the safe and secure transmission of data, and a customer interface.

“The project will revolutionize our space-as-a-service offering,” says Luis Gomes, chief executive of AAC Clyde Space.

“It will allow us to significantly reduce the cost of every message collected, every image captured, supporting those business cases that to date have not been able to justify the capital expenditure to have hundreds of sensors in orbit.

“Fundamentally, our customers will no longer have to worry about how to access space, they can focus on how to enhance their core business. This project, named xSpancion, will catalyse a new generation of applications not previously possible.”