British firms BAE Systems and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. said Tuesday they plan to market small- and micro-satellite technology to the U.S. market. Under a memorandum of agreement, BAE Systems' space systems and electronics unit and SSTL will offer customers – particularly NASA and the Department of Defense – a broad range of smallsat capabilities.
SSTL designs, manufactures and operates high-performance, low-cost small satellites that can be developed rapidly to meet civil and military Earth-observation, communications, navigation and space science applications. Over the past 25 years, SSTL has launched 26 smallsats into low- and high-Earth orbit for international customers. SSTL pioneered the use of commercial, off-the-shelf technologies in space.
BAE Systems develops and produces a wide array of space electronics and integrated solutions, from single-board, radiation-hardened computers to complete instrument payloads.
"The partnership combines SSTL's small-satellite experience with BAE Systems' advanced space electronics and ground systems capabilities," said Leigh Coolidge, director of BAE's smallsat initiative. "Together, we will provide U.S. government customers with an end-to-end solution – from concept of operations to on-orbit mission operations to information management."
The partnership also plans to make satellite ownership affordable for U.S. agencies that historically have found the cost prohibitive.
"U.S. customers will be able to achieve more satellite missions within a fixed space budget, allowing each end user to own its own satellite and thus achieve priority access to data," said Phil Davies, SSTL senior account manager.
"Constellations of small satellites will become financially possible due to the lower unit cost, bringing real benefits of higher temporal resolution and persistent monitoring – a new area of space applications."
