Mecano ID is accelerating development of a small satellite deployer with a new influx of funding from the French government. Credit: Mecano ID

SAN FRANCISCO – The French government awarded more than one million euros ($1.17 million) to Tououse-based Mecano ID to accelerate development of a small satellite deployer.

Mecano ID’s EOS deployer, developed with support from the French space agency CNES, is designed to accommodate 15- to 60-kilogram satellites.

With the influx of French government funding, Mecano ID’s EOS small satellite deployer will be space qualified by the end of the year with a flight demonstration in 2021, according to Mecano ID’s July 29 news release.

The new deployer is designed for simplicity and low cost with few main parts.

In July, Mecano ID learned it won funding from the French General Secretariat for Investment’s Future Investment Program, an initiative aimed at encouraging innovative and promising projects.

Mecano ID, a 25-year-old French company focused on spacecraft engineering, manufacturing and testing, often supports European primes Airbus Defence & Space and Thales Alenia Space.

A Mecano ID spokesman declined to disclose the exact value of the award.

Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She...