The space transportation and logistics company D-Orbit has announced the signing of a hosted payload contract with SpacePNT, a Swiss company specialized in the design and manufacturing of low cost high-accuracy GNSS receivers for the New Space satellite market.
The contract covers the integration of a new GNSS receiver prototype into ION Satellite Carrier, D-Orbit’s proprietary orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), and a prolonged series of orbital tests that will validate the ability of the receiver to estimate the position and velocity of ION throughout its lifetime, its ability to perform in-flight firmware and software updates, and its long-term survivability in a space environment. SpacePNT will have the option to operate beyond the contractually established operation package through a pay-per-use pricing scheme based on usage and data transfer.
“We are excited to partner with SpacePNT for a mission that will provide us precise time and position of our OTV during its mission,” said Renato Panesi, D-Orbit’s Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer. “ION’s ability to quickly integrate payloads and our flexible manifest enabled SpacePNT to move towards flight-qualification in record time.”
“Partnering with D-Orbit is a huge asset for our development, going beyond the IOV step, allowing to demonstrate survivability, maintainability and performance through D-Orbit expertise and D-Orbit infrastructure,” said Cyril Botteron, SpacePNT’s Co-Founder and Director.
ION Satellite Carrier is a multi-purpose vehicle capable of carrying out within a single mission satellite transportation, payload hosting, and advanced in-orbit edge computing services.
SpacePNT’s GNSS payload will be integrated on the upcoming SCV010, the 10th satellite carrier launched by D-Orbit since 2020, which is scheduled for flight in Q2 2023.
About D-Orbit
D-Orbit is a market leader in the space logistics and transportation services industry with a track record of space-proven services, technologies, and successful missions.
Founded in 2011, D-Orbit is the first company addressing the logistics needs of the space market. ION Satellite Carrier, for example, is a space vehicle that can transport satellites in orbit and release them individually into distinct orbital slots, reducing the time from launch to operations by up to 85% and the launch costs of an entire satellite constellation by up to 40%. ION can also accommodate multiple third-party payloads like innovative technologies developed by startups, experiments from research entities, and instruments from traditional space companies requiring a test in orbit. The whole, fully redundant ION can be rented for edge computing applications and space cloud services to provide satellite operators with storage capacity and advanced computing capabilities in orbit.
D-Orbit’s roadmap includes becoming a relevant player in the in-orbit servicing market, which is forecasted to become one of the largest, growing markets within the space sector.
D-Orbit has offices in Italy, Portugal, the UK, and the US; its commitment to pursuing business models that are profitable, friendly for the environment, and socially beneficial, led D-Orbit S.p.A. to become the first certified B-Corp space company in the world
About SpacePNT
SpacePNT is an innovative, low cost GNSS receiver maker for the fast-growing New Space satellite market, delivering disruptive decimetre-level positioning accuracy and timing for single satellites & LEO constellations and highest signal reception sensitivity for Moon missions, all in real-time through its unique and radiation tolerant Positioning, Navigation and Timing technology (www.spacepnt.com)
Contacts
Patrizia Tammaro Silva – Investor Relations
Patrizia.tammaro@dorbit.space
Elena Sanfilippo Ceraso – Head of Media and Public Relations
comms@dorbit.space
SpacePNT – Investors Relations, Commercial Relations
info@spacepnt.com
