Featured Image Source: Kleos Space
Kleos Space, a European company that offers data-as-a-service (DaaS) via satellites, announced its next satellite cluster for the Polar Vigilance Mission (KSF1), has completed a hardware design review and is ready to enter the manufacturing phase. The company is scheduled to launch mid-year atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket under a rideshare contract with Spaceflight Inc. Kleos’ satellites are developed by ISSPACE, equipped to detect radio frequency transmissions and other data to provide “global activity-based intelligence, enhancing the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of governments and commercial entities when tracking systems are defeated, imagery unclear or targets out of patrol range.” The company plans to launch around ten four-satellite clusters to geolocate signals and sale the data service to companies, governments, including for use in military operations. Geolocation information is also useful to first responders to guard regions, save lives, and protect assets.
“We are excited to be progressing our second satellite cluster with ISISPACE – a leader in the small satellite market. Entering the assembly and verification phase of the satellites is a crucial developmental milestone and ensures we are on schedule to launch in mid-2021,” said Kleos Space Chief Executive Officer Andy Bowyer in a press release.
The four KSF1 Polar Vigilance Mission satellites will operate in Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at an altitude of approximately 500 to 600 kilometers above Earth. The company says this will be the second satellite deployment that will work alongside their four satellites already in orbit which were launched in November 2020 as part of the Scouting Mission. “The KSF1 satellite cluster will complement our Scouting Mission satellites, improving the value of our geolocation maritime intelligence data,” Bowyer said on Tuesday.
“We are pleased to design and build this second satellite cluster for Kleos, to be completed on a fast-track schedule made possible by building on our extensive nanosatellite expertise and heritage. Despite the challenging timeline given the current global situation, we are keen to enter this next crucial phase of satellite assembly and validation and bringing our design to reality,” ISISPACE’s CEO Jeroen Rotteveel stated.
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Image Source: SpaceX
About the Author
Evelyn Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
